Rest and Relax at Nirwana Resort

We had wanted a quiet weekend escape just to rest and relax and do absolutely nothing except nuay around so we headed for Bintan Resorts - a consortium of resorts located in the north of Bintan Island. What we didn't bargain for was that things at Bintan Resort wasn't exactly cheap. The 2 days 1 night trip seemed cheap enough. S$150 for room, return ferry trip and breakfast. But when we arrived there, we found out that it was like we had never left Singapore. Every darned thing was in SGD and expensive like hell. Anyway, we were there already and had to make the best of it.

We had randomly picked the Nirwana Resort hotel to stayed in. It looks nice from the pics on the web and cheaper than Banyan Tree or Club Med and better than Bintan Lagoon. We were not disappointed in this aspect. The resort itself is actually part of Nirwana Garden which was situated on a huge sprawling piece of land and actually comprises several resorts - Nirwana Resort; Mayang Sari, Beach Club, Banyu Baru and the Indra Maya.

After checked in, we escaped from the resort and took an hour car ride to the other side of Bintan to a quaint and unique spa - the Aroma River Spa. More of that here.

Back at the Nirwana Resort, we went for dinner at the Kelong Restaurant, suppose to be one of the best on the Island. The set dinner at S$44 per person again wasn't cheap but it was a full 8 course dinner and did came with a bowl of shark fin soup, crab and prawns. There wasn't much to do for nightlife so we walked around and sat on the deck chair where I promptly fell asleep much to the annoyance of M who wanted to just sit there and do small talks and admire the stars.

The next morning after a forgetable buffet breakfast (ain't all hotel buffet breakfast), we went for a walk around the resort. There was a mini zoo with crocodiles, a soft shelled turtle, a snapping turtle, what looks like piranha, Arapiama, Alligator Gar, Giant catfish, a vulture which spread its majestic wings for us to look, a Brahminy Kite, a lot of White Cockatoo, and some Amazon macaws. That show how mini the zoo is since I can remember all the animals.

The chalets at the Beach Club looks lovely, so rustic but a bit ulu and away from the main building.

The highlight of the resort was of course the beach with its movie like scenery; coconut trees swaying gently in the wind, stretch and stretch of long white sand and beautiful clear blue water.

After checkout, we went over to the pathetic looking Resort centre but found a hidden gem when we discovered a food court selling food at very reasonable S$ as in $6 for a bowl of noodle. There was also a sports wellness centre offering a whopping 50% discount off all treatment. How to pass up such a offer? We gleefully went for another round of massage, this time a 'sport' massage at $35 for an hour before heading back to Sg.

Compared to Batam 2 weeks ago, this was heaven. Although not exactly cheap, we did achieve our objectives of resting and relaxin and to me that is money well spent.

More pictures here

Sponsorship Disclosure Law

The gahmen or more precisely, the Media Devt Authority is looking at 'sponsorship disclosure' law. What it means simply is if a blogger is paid or sponsored to write a blog post, the blogger will have to disclose this on pain of a fine. Wah I damn scared so let me state right now that I have not been sponsored by any of the food joints that I have wrote about so far.

However, that does not mean that I am against sponsorship. In fact, I promise to write nice glowing report about the food even if it taste like swine to whoever is willing to sponsor me and my partners to a meal. Or maybe 1 for 1 also can. Or just a nice desert also can. Anything as long as it is free.

Any offers?

Oiishi Durian Bread

Was coming back from Jurong when suddenly remembered somebody mentioned the durian bread at a bakery in West Coast Plaza. So promptly swung over there and cleared out the last tray - I think there were 12 or more but who's counting.

Shared it with colleagues in the office. The verdict? 10 thumbs up! The outside looks like any ordinary bun but inside it was filled with pure durian puree. And at $1.80 each for a full size bun, it is definitely more value for money than the puny little one from Puteri Mas or the expensive puff from 717 or Emicakes.

Er before any one ask why no picture - nobody could resist the heavenly smell and whacked it down in supersonic speed. And also before the bossess start going around hunting where the smell came from!

According to the lady, they are usually sold out by mid afternoon so anybody thinking of getting it - go early. But they do have another outlet at Beauty World Centre. Here's a write up and a picture.

Seafood and Durian

This evening a group of us went to ulu Yio Chu Kang to a small little eatery known as Crab Party. There was no crab partying there. In fact if I am a crab, I wouldn't be partying there cos crabs get eaten there big time.

After reading about how this place was supposed to be a spin off from the Still Road crab place, had decided for quite some time to try it out but never actually got round to it until today.

What did we had? Naturally, crabs - 1 black and 1 red plus some other stuff.

The black pepper crab was much better than the chili crab which was a tad to sourish for most of us. The crab was of medium size and cost around $45 each which was a pleasant surprise as I had expected the prices to be on the high side.

The other items we had was the garlic prawn, coffee pork rib, cuttlefish kangkong and the sinfully fried pork knuckle.

It was a mistake to order this as it left most of us pretty full with not much space for the highlight of the evening.

Durian. Cos 717 durian was just a stone throw away and we couldn't pass it up so we trooped there after the rather heavy meal and forced ourselves to gorge down $10 worth of mangosteen and 3 D24 durian.

How was the food? Let's just say the price is reasonable but I really don't think there is any compelling reasons to go back there again. Don't get me wrong. The food isn't half bad but I can think of many many places with much better seafood and crab. In fact we were already discussing over dinner to go to a certain place in AMK or go for lunch on a little island even more ulu than YCK.

As for the durians, we didn't get to try any of the more exotic brand and since we were already pretty stuff, I think most of us was thankful we only ordered 3. Still the standard of durian at 717 is always pretty consistent and certainly we have no complains.

Excuse me while I go to burb.