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

 

See the lizard??

Emma

Dumb and Dumber Bike! 

Buddha Bowling

Ahhh Paradise!!

 Thanks for a great visit Indonesia! We will be back! 

Photo Shoot

Jazzy here. Mom and Dad got a new camera and are having a lot of fun with it. (Well....they borrowed it from the Wee Kim Wee School. It is a Panasonic Lumix DMC G6). Here is my first photo shoot ;)

Whew.....being a model is exhausting! ( so is being a photographer ;) )

Chris here. What a whirlwind the past few weeks have been!

Melissa and I have become much busier with work—which is going quite well all in all. New responsibilities as a faculty member keep my schedule full with classes and research meetings while Melissa’s job keeps her busy with treating a new patient load. However, we are still doing our best to go out and explore some the different neighborhoods and attractions of Singapore.

 Recently, we went to MacRitchie Reservoir Park for a sizable hike (roughly 6 miles) and to see the star attraction—a 250 yard treetop canopy suspension bridge 75 feet above the forest floor. 

On our walk we were greeted by some curious long-tailed macaques (AKA: monkeys), who really wanted to share my snack. The entire troop came running as soon as they heard the crinkle of the foil wrapper in my pocket. It was reminiscent of cats running toward the sound of an electric can-opener. We laughed and smiled jovially without fully realizing that we were playing into the hands of the macaques that collectively recognized us as easy targets. Our smiles dropped as we realized no longer were the macaques the attraction, but that we had become the main show. The macaques dared closer and closer and Melissa and I sensed that the time was right for us to hustle on before some kind of heist ensued.

 Later, after the heat was off from our macaque-venture, I took a few photos of one of our furry neighbors while he yawned—as his mouth split into a deep yawn his face went from sleepy and cute, to rather terrifying as he bared the canines he quietly harbors. It was a good lesson to remember that at first glance they look cute and cuddly, but to be cognizant that they are WILD and they can be aggressive too! So after a couple of close encounters we decided to move along and continue the trek to the canopy walk.

The canopy walk was really, really cool—although I have to admit, being up that high on a bridge that sways with the breeze was a bit frightening, but I think that I managed OK. Melissa had no problems, although one poor guy behind us wasn’t enjoying his time on the canopy walk. All in all, it made for a great day-trip and we will certainly have to go back to explore some of the other hiking trails around the reservoir.  Enjoy the pics!