karen does: Easy breezy getaway

One of the best things about living in Singapore is its close proximity to nearby resort islands. There are even beautiful beaches just a one hour ferry ride away.

I had the pleasure of spending last weekend at Bintan Lagoon Resort. The picture above was taken from the rooftop of the resort's newest beachfront restaurant, Rice. Not a bad view eh. And yes, the sea is quite pretty too. Clear waters, mild waves and nice soft sand.

The resort was celebrating the grand opening of its new private ferry terminal, which is located a few hundred metres to the left of where this photograph was taken. Seriously, the hotel is a two minute walk away from the ferry terminal, which means you don't have to waste time with lengthy land transfers once you arrive in Bintan.

The resort very generously hosted a group of media people to a night's stay to take in all that the place has to offer. I decided to make a weekend getaway out of it and extended my vacation by a night so that I could have some time for R&R after all the festivities.

The highlight of the first day was dinner on the golf course. Yup, we had dinner right on the green, at a spot overlooking the sea. This was the first (and apparently the last) time the resort would hold a dinner on the golf course because I hear it is sacrilegious to step all over the green.

For the more golf-inclined readers, this is one of two courses located on the 44-ha resort and was designed by Jack Nicklaus. I know next to nothing about golf, but while driving through the property in a buggy, I was very captivated by the scenic slopes of the course. Someday, when I can afford it, maybe I'll spend some time learning to play this game.

Knowing what I knew, I definitely felt more than a little bit privileged to be able to enjoy such a unique experience. Check out how the organisers even bothered to set up cocktail tables for pre-dinner drinks. Mega bonus points for attention to detail!

Just a sidenote about the food, for those who may be wondering. This was one of the best mass catered meals I've ever eaten. Usually catered food is kinda tasteless and overcooked, but all the seafood and meat at this dinner (and also all the other meals I had there) were freshly grilled, soft and tender. And because I am a huge carb lover, I paid special attention to the rice. I honestly don't have very much vocab to describe rice, but man, this was great rice. All soft, fluffy and fragrant, just like those how you imagine the rice in those TV ads to taste like. Haha.

Then, there was the big surprise of the night, where we got to set off Chinese lanterns. As the story goes, you write a wish on the lantern, then set it under a flame to fill it with enough hot air so that it floats up into the sky. If it floats out of sight without catching fire or crashing back down to land, your wish will come true. I've never done anything like that before so it was a novel experience for me. It takes some skillz and patience to inflate the lantern so that it is light enough for lift-off without running out of solid fuel before the wind takes it away.

I got greedy, so I wrote three wishes on my lantern. I'm also super chuffed to say that my lantern was set off successfully - and now you know what that means :)

The next morning, we were given a choice of activities to take part in and the boyfriend and I decided to go snorkelling. The corals are a little off the shore and a five minute speedboat ride gets you there. The resort provides all the necessary equipment so you don't even have to pack anything if you don't want to. I strongly recommend this activity, especially if you've not gone snorkelling before. Even if you can't swim, since there's a life jacket provided.

The corals are at most, about 5m deep, so you get a nice clear view of the fish going about their daily business. I swam through about three different schools of fish and spent a significant amount of time floating over corals to wait for clownfish (aka Nemo fish) to appear. Go try! It's a whole different world underwater and awesome motivation to get that scuba diving license :)

Here's the only pic of the two of us just before jumping on the boat. No pictures of the fish unfortunately because neither of us have a waterproof camera. And yes, I'm wearing my treasured Jeremy Lin basketball jersey, all the way from NYC! Doesn't matter to me that the guy's not with the Knicks anymore, the writer and romantic in me just loves the amazing story of faith, determination and perseverance that he came to represent during those few months he was with the team.

Anyway, back to Bintan. Most of the group departed after lunch, so we had an extra day to ourselves. One main draw of this resort is its sheer size. Besides the two golf courses, the sprawling complex comprises of two swimming pools, one of which has a slide, bungee jump and hamster balls to keep kids occupied. There are also tennis courts, a gym, jogging track and a laser quest arcade. Besides snorkelling, there's a range of other sea activities including jet skiing (fun!) and banana boat. There are 473 rooms, suites and villas, so there's plenty of options to choose from.

Just one note, the resort prices everything in Singapore dollars, so depending on perspective, it is either a good thing or a not-so-good thing. I like the fact that I was out of the country and I try not to penny pinch when I'm on a vacation, so that didn't bother me so much. Prices aren't exorbitant, but you can expect to pay Singapore-standard hotel prices here.

The two of us ended up doing what we do best - napping, lounging by the pool, practicing yoga in the morning and feasting - for the remainder of our trip. And then, it was time to jump on the ferry and head back to the mainland to get ready to start the new week.

I'd definitely recommend this to all you time-strapped people who can't afford to take an extra day or two off work to fly somewhere a little further. Sometimes, all you need is a little trip out of the country to feel recharged and refreshed and ready to face the world again.

Before I sign off, some important information, and a few pictures of how the hotel looks like.

Deluxe rooms start from S$140++. Book your rooms here.
Ferry services start from S$62. Book your tickets here.