The real paradise island

We just got back from Rawa Island in Malaysia and that must be pretty close to a paradise island - very small, just one resort, absolutely pristine white sand, turqoise sea, corals right by the beach and amazing underwater world to top it up. It is on the east coast of peninsular Malaysia and only a few hours drive from Singapore plus a 20 min boat trip. What drags the trip a bit is crossing from Singapore to Malaysia - tight controls on both sides of the causeway, people have to get out of buses and carry all luggage through airport style security controls etc. All that takes at least 30 minutes. The rest is really smooth. We had a minivan pick us up at home at 5.30 am so that we would be on time for the 9 o'clock boat. There are only two trips daily so you really don't want to miss it! And this way we had a whole long day on the beach already on Friday. There is a water slide on the jetty which proved very popular with the kids. Quite a ride especially at high tide. There were also so many colorful fish right at the jetty and around the slide that the kids didn't have to swim out to snorkel at all. We did a few trips though to see some special things. The coral started so close to the beach, especially at low tide so that didn't have to swim out at all. The coral and fish life was quite different from Bali. There were many sea anemones in Rawa and of course clown fish in them so that was a pretty sight and we went to look for Nemo a few times. Once at low tide I was so close that two clown fish swam strait into my hands and I could have easily caught them. Karl and me saw a blue spotted ray on Friday. And I saw it again yesterday at the same spot digging away in the sand. Then together with Robert we chased a cuttlefish for quite a while. That was a sight - it kept changing color according to the sea floor - really light when above sand and much darker and patterned above coral. When it stopped Robert dived down and touched it and it gave him a very angry look. It swam very close to where the kids were playing but while Robert went to get Karl to come and have a look I lost sight of it and couldn't find it again. There were lots of beautiful parrot fish very close to the jetty and then some funny little stripy ones that swam very close and started a fish spa business nibbling away on us. Until a big white one wanted to join the feast. We didn't like that!

The rooms were pretty basic so we spent most of the time in the sea, in hammocks, reading, kids playing with their new friends and the rabbits. A very laid back and pleasant feel all in all as there were lots of families with young kids, mostly expats and many scandinavians among them. Beatrice made friends with some danish and swedish girls and we didn't see much of her except from far away or at mealtimes. The boys made some friends as well and ended up being brothers in crime with another set of brothers as they managed to break a rubber boat that they had "borrowed". The owner was not too pleased. Raoul had an extra boating experience - he and Robert went on a kayak around the island. He was also excited to see how they were trying to dig a stranded yacht out from the sand. 

On the second day all the kids got so brave that they started to jump down from the jetty - several meters into the water. I would not have dared.

Food was simple but fresh and tasty. Luckily no desserts on the buffet!

Singing sands of Bintan

Bintan

Last weekend we went for a short break to Bintan, which is an Indonesian island very close to Singapore, practically almost part of Singapore because all the resorts there are run by Singaporean companies and Singapore dollar is the currency. The ferry ride takes 1 hour but there are lots of formalities on both ends as you are technically crossing borders etc. We stayed in a place called Bintan Lagoon, mainly because it has 2 golf courses and Robert had a first chance to play while here in Singapore. As we went together with the boy's friend and his parents we were well able to entertain ourselves while the dads played. The hotel is huge, almost like Bali Hyatt but by far not as luxurious. The beach was very nice though with funny singing sands - lovely and white and when you stepped on it hard, it made a squicky sound. I did some snorkling but had to swim out quite far for that to get to some rocks where there were fish to see. That was too far for the kids. Karl came with me once but after I had been pointing to fish for a while for him I looked up and saw he didn't even have his goggles on, so back we went. They enjoyed the pools as well with waterslides and all. On Sunday morning there was a cooking event for the kids on Mother's day, so they made some banana fritters for me. That was a funny choice for kid's cooking class - deepfrying something in hot oil! I would have thought decorating cupcakes would be safer... .
The hotel was not really the greatest hit, to be honest. Our friends had been before and said there would be a mattress/daybed in the room. Now after renovation there was none and the housekeeping insisted it was not ment to be. We had only booked one room for all of us so would have been in trouble. Luckily found a mattress standing around in the hall and just like in old holiday camp days just "borrowed" it for the night. So it worked out rather well.
Food was miserable unfortunately. Nobody fell ill but it just didn't taste at all. And the resort is so far away from all other places that you are really stuck with their restaurants. So all in all would not recommend that hotel. Ok for just one night. Still golf was good and beach nice so did ok for a mini holiday.

After that we have had an intense movie-going week. There is the European Union Film Festival here so we went to see the Swedish movie (Vargen) on the opening night and the Estonian movie (Magnus) last week. The last one must have been so shocking for the Singaporeans as most of the time it showed people who were doing drugs or just high - all of which comes with death penalty here! The rest of it was about suicide plans, porn etc. - also not very public subjects here. And to make the things more curious, the movie is forbidden in Estonia and the EU due to a privacy lawsuit. So we were really lucky to be here where we could see it. Especially as normally movies are under quite strict cencorship rules here!
Then on Saturday went to see Angels and Demons. So much better than the previous one - Da Vinci Code. That was an exciting evening for the kids as well - we couldn't get our regular babysitter so instead my Singaporean friend's 18-year old nephew came to babysit. Karl was so excited, asked him "are you a boy?". They are still confused about the fine line from when a boy becomes an "uncle". But I guess in case of Jia Ming they defined him as a boy. Karl keeps asking where he is and when he can play with him again.
Then yesterday we finally managed to get some Estonians together here to play the Estonian trivial pursuit that we have planned for ages but never managed to find a weekend suitable for enough people. We were just 5 players but it was great fun especially as one was an Italian who doesn't speak any Estonian at all. But he still read the questions out very well and gave us great laughs and as a result came second in the game. Obviously had to translate the questions for him. And guess who won? .... A good fun afternoon finished off with the best pizza in Singapore!

Nipah Palm fruit

Busy in Singapore

Life has suddenly become even more busy now that Robert's project is finished and we can do more things here together. I was not very used to planning trips and things far ahead so as we got back from Bali suddenly discovered there is a Labour day long weekend coming up. By that time it was far too late to find anything at all - no flights, bus tickets, ferries, hotels. So there we were - stranded for 3 days. Had to find alternatives here and decided to go to Pulau Ubin - the island on the north east coast of Singapore that we sailed around in September.

Of course when we got to the boat terminal we found out that there were a few more people with the same idea - a few thousand to be precise. But the long long que moved surprisingly fast as they had foreseen it and there were tens of bumboats coming and going all the time. The trip only takes about 10 minutes. And of course it was very busy on the other side as well. Fortunately the bicycle rent shops were well stocked and we finally found a constellation of bikes to fit us all - boys in kids seats and Beatrice on her own. We set off towards Check Jawa, which is a wetlands reserve maybe 3 km from the boat jetty. It was pretty busy on the roads as well. But quite a nice ride until tarmac changed into earth path that was bumpy and hilly. After we had had a little rest and snack Beatrice fell going too fast downhill on this bumpy road. And she had no helmet! It was quite bad but luckily no major bruises and there was no point going back from there either. So after a while we continued towards the destination. She was not keen to ride. It was probably her first fall on the bike ever.

We did the boardwalk in Check Jawa but didn't see a lot of wildlife because it was too busy with people, just many small crabs and mudskippers in the mud. There were some interesting palm trees though - Nipah palm - the only type that grows in mangroves with very funny shaped fruit (hope to get a picture up here soon!). The view from the tower was good. Part of the boardwalk is over water, nice and breezy. The way back was up and down the hill - both ways too steep to ride so there was a lot of pushing especially as Beatrice was being extra careful after her fall. We passed a quarry with strange dark blue water and made a small detour to the north coast of the island to have a look at Malaysia - through high fences in the water to keep illegal immigrants off Singapore soil. There were small farms on the way, all making a good business on that day selling cold drinks. There are still a few hundred people who live on Pulau Ubin - a lifestyle nothing like the rest of high tech Singapore - bicycles to move around, water in wells, electricity from generators. Very much like a Malay village it used to be. Although a taxi driver told there are plans to develop the whole island with high rise apartment blocks and extend the metro there ... . I think it would be a shame but Singapore thinks they need to grow in order to stay competitive and as there is so little space where to put all the new people, they have to use every square meter.

Well, anyway we made our way back to the main centre and were thirsty and hungry and had a nice early dinner of fresh local fish. Then back with the bumboat. I guess it would make a great day out, or even a weekend as you can camp there and stay over night on any other weekend of the year. The 1st of May was just a little too busy.