Jazzy's Big Adventure: Bintan Island, Indonesia

Melissa here. Last weekend Chris and I enjoyed our first international "holiday" in Indonesia. The trip was a last minute work retreat with PhysioAsia, my employer. We had a wonderful time and loved that you could get to island paradise (and an entirely different country) on a 45 minute ferry ride.

Highlights of the trip:

-Beautiful sandy beaches and shells. The sand is so fine it feels amazing on your feet. It reminded me of elementary school when you play with cornstarch and water. There were many beautiful sand shells. Loads of sand dollars!

-The food. 10 course meals including rice, ceviche, noodles, chicken, pepper crab, whole fish, stir fry veggies, beautiful fresh fruit and lots to drink.

-The massages. In room massages at 10:30pm for 35 USD for 60 minutes. Amazing!! Chris and I were a little surprised when the ladies crawled on the bed with us for the massage....but it was a great experience!

-The room. A beautiful room with a great view of the ocean and an amazing rain shower.

-The elephants. The resort had 7 elephants on the property, 4 females and 3 males. We took photos with Emma, who was very sweet and well mannered.

-Renting an "E-bike." The poor electric bike could barely make it up a hill with both of us on, but we had a blast!!

-The people. It was great to spend time outside of work with my colleagues and meet people form other branches of the company. (PhysioAsia is owned under a group that distributes and sells PT equipment and products.) So we met people from Singapore, KL (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), Vietnam, and India. Everyone was very warm and welcoming to Chris and I and we appreciate their support.

Lowlights of the trip:

-The ferry to Bintan. So apparently the outbound trip is notorious for rocky waters. Chris and I were pretty much unscathed, but MANY people were not as fortunate. Interestingly, the cafe on board was called the BRF Cafe!! (really stands for Bintan Resorts Ferry....but Chris and I couldn't help calling it the BARF Cafe!)

-Black Tar on the beach. Last month there was an oil tanker spill and the clean up is not complete. The water was very clear, and you could not see oil, but we would have a few tar spots on our feet after walking on the beach.

All and All it was an amazing and relaxing trip. Please enjoy the photos! For better quality, click on the first photo and scroll though using picture viewer. Enjoy! xoxo