The Valentine's Day weekend has come and gone, and it'd be a great understatement to say that it's the best ever in my life.
Planning for it started early last week when Sophia suggested a quick overseas getaway, having just returned from Desaru. I thought of Batam, but she suggested Bintan as well, and so I did some quick search, and found Bintan to be a good getaway location, not too expensive as well.
And after some online search and forum reading, I decided on Nirwana Resort Hotel in Bintan. Wanted Mayang Sari, but it was full, and so I opted for a deluxe room in Nirwana Resort Hotel. It turned out to be the best decision ever. Why? Read on...
So I went ahead and bought ferry tickets to Bintan as well, and booked the room from the hotel's own website instead of going through a travel agent, since most agents only had other resorts left. Luckily we bought the ferry tickets fast too, as the tickets ran out pretty quickly, and we ended up having to leave early on Saturday (12+noon) and returning late on Sunday (5+pm).
And so early on Saturday morning I picked Shu up from her place (with that big bouquet haha) and we headed straight to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal, and took the uneventful ferry across to Bintan. Reached there in about an hour, and took the 2nd bus over to Nirwana Resort Hotel because the first one was full. Had to queue a bit when we got there, but it was well worth the queue because upon processing my booking, the receptionist said,
"I'm pleased to tell you we're giving you a free upgrade to our suite," and passed me the key. I was jumping up and down inside as I took the key coolly, I tell you.
Went to our room after a mini little hunt, and we were predicting a pretty nice view from the directions we were walking, but little did we expect to see what we did. As the door opened, we saw the room, and went, hmmm ok...
Then we realised we didn't see the bed. And that's when we went 'wow!' first. And promptly found the room behind a pair of teak sliding doors. And behind the doors?
A gigantic four-poster bed.
And we went 'wow' again, before realising we couldn't see the bathroom. And promptly found another pair of teak sliding doors. And behind the doors?
A bathroom the size of my living room, complete with bathtub and TWO cubicles, and TWO basins, fully equipped!
Then we went over to the balcony, which was big enough to fit a DAY BED and ANOTHER armchair in. And what about the view, you ask? The big blue sea (yes, the South China Sea itself) was right in front of us, unblocked. Clamber over the balcony railing, and you're almost on the beach.
Photos, I hear? I think Shu'll put them on facebook pretty soon, but I dare say that this was the best possible start to our weekend getaway.
That wasn't the last of our freebies... Somehow the return bus transfer managed to get full and the hotel thereafter arranged a private car to take us to the ferry terminal, but that's another free upgrade we were pretty happy to get =p
Much of the weekend was spent lazing by the pool -- they call it the 'infinity pool' cos it's 'endless', and from far it does seem as if the pool ends in the horizon. There was also the pool bar, where we got to sip some cocktail in swimwear, while -still- soaking in the pool! Hard part was getting the money to the bartender while keeping it dry still =p
Of course, there was the Valentine's dinner itself. I became the usual sucker and got the Valentine's set meal at the famed Kelong Restaurant -- figured that the variety and portions would be good for 2 people. You know how it's hard for 2 people to eat 'tze char' and have enough variety, so the set meal solved it all. We even had an alto saxophonist with a nice jazzy tone serenading us... And best of all was the location, with the dinner table set in the middle of a bridge in the middle of the coast, with nothing but darkness all around. Probably the quietest surroundings we could have imagined. It was a really nice, undisturbed ambience.
Shu also bought a massage package for the two of us, otherwise you'd probably never see me at a massage. Quite often the masseuse was going 'pain, pak?' and I was going, 'no, ticklish only' so much so that after a while, she gave up and went 'ticklish, pak?' whenever I cringed. Still, it was a good one, and I felt much refreshed after that.
There's so much I'd love to carry on blogging about, but I think the best thing about the trip was its carefree nature, where we both had so much fun without having to worry about anything at all.
And of course, the company was what made the trip it was. =)
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