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Selamat Sore,
So, I decided to take myself away for the weekend to one of the Indonesian islands called Bintan. Not only did I decide to do the whole island thing but I also decided I wanted to be somewhere rather remote, with no frills, no spills and no resorts (I cant stand resorts!). My checklist led me to a place called Shady Shacks, located on the east side of the island, about 1 hour drive from the port where I docked, Tanjung Pinang, it was perfect!
Once you get out of the main town, Tanjung Pinang, the rest it pretty bleak. The shops and houses soon become non existent and you are just surrounded by jungle, this was exactly what I was looking for. I got to shady shacks about 10:30pm on the Friday (2nd Nov) and as soon as I stepped out of the car I was greeted by Mr Lobo's employees, well, family actually, all making a fuss over the new arrival, (Btw, Mr Lobo is the owner of shady shacks, apparently known all over the island).
I was shown to my shack and to my dimsay, the shack I was given was a 2 storey shack (not the 1 person shack), which houses a fair amount of people. I asked why and was simply told "you are the ONLY peson staying here, so we thought why not!?" So not only had I come to a remote side of the island, I was the only person there - Sweet!!
My first nights sleep was going really really well until about 2am.....(before I went to bed I hung up a carrier bag containing some cereal bars, my toothbrush and some soap).....*rustle rustle rustle* *nibble nibble nibble*....I suddenly wasnt alone. To be honest it scared the hell out of me, the hut was pitch black and the rustling was so loud, something big was having a go at the bag and there was no way I was getting out from my mosquito net protected bed to see what it was. It eventually went away as it sensed I was awake....BUT.....4am *rustle rustle rustle* *nibble nibble nibble* my beach hut visitor was back, this time having an even harder go....this time I made some noises (not girlie screams) and it went.......7am *rustle rustle rustle* *nibble nibble* this time I was definitely going to catch a glimpse of the beast because daylight had strated to shine into the hut, I turned my head quickly to the side and the intruder stopped right away and looked at me, a nice big rat was standing there looking smug. It tried another 3 times within the following 5 mins to get back to the bag using differnt routes, but I wasnt having it......it never came back after that. Once the rat was gone I just had to see what the hell it was doing, I checked the food - no damage, toothbrush - a few rat hairs, soap - partially eaten. Only in Bintan do you get soap loving rats - strange! Anyhow, as you can imagine the day was spent doing absolutely nothing (apart from a brieft stroll into the village, all 100 metres of it), I fully intended to relax, forget about singapore and just unwind, and that I did.
Later in the afternoon, someone moved in next door, personally I thought it was very rude, how dare she, I was meant to be the only one there, but I eventually came round to the idea! One thing I thought was great about the place was that the sea wasnt littered with tankers. In Singapore, thats all you see, hence why people dont really swim in the sea here. Can you imagine being in such a humid place like Singapore (which is an ISLAND) and not being able to go into 90% of the surrounding ocean?, anyway, the sea in Bintan was beautiful, clear, warm and calm......until I got out and had oil all over my hands, feet and legs.... what to do! :-P
The final day was short as I left at 2. Unlike the day before, it was boiling hot for a lot longer, so I took advantage, slapped on the SPF 50 and laid out. Considering I only laid out in the actual sun for 30 mins (the rest of the time I was in the sea), the resulting RED tan lines were very visible on my legs.....guess I missed that part :-P.
Overall, a great trip, chilled, basic, good people, just what I needed. As you can imagine, I could not wait to get back to Singapore....!!
Until next time.....
Daniel
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