CLUB MED BINTAN!!!
Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
I am back from Bintan!!! It WAS damn FUN lah!!!
But i am kinda sick of buffets now. Imagine having buffets 3 meals a day for 4D3N! (but i skipped breakfast though, cos i am a pig. Lolz!). To make it worse, i just had a steamboat and bbq session before i left for the trip. And the moment i stepped into my house after i returned, i saw my mum preparing steamboat at home!!! Is this a joke?????? *Faintz*
So yes, NO STEAMBOAT, NO BBQ AND NO BUFFET for a month!
Back to the main topic.
This trip was the first time i travelled overseas with just my own direct groups for our goal setting. Basically, we have 6 director groups under Advisors' Clique (AC for short). Our direct group consists of 3 mgrs: Gunny, Corene and Eugene (That's my group!) and course, boss himself to make it 4 groups. To be honest, i am secretly counting my good fortune to be under Eugene's group cos i think it is the most UNITED and HAPPENING group in the entire AC :) Not that the rest of the mgrs aren't good. All of them are very nice people too. Just that Eugene's group is THE GROUP to be in cos we eat, drink and party like nobody's business. Somehow or rather, the people in our group kinda belongs to the same breed, even though i am the only gal inside (coincidence?). Lolz... Not to even mention we have a mgr like him that goes all out to help people. I know we are subjected to the envy of other groups. Due to the same reason, the rest of us under him also enjoys special privilege whenever we requested help from other seniors. So yup, i love my group and i hope it stays that way :)
To quote Eugene's word, "Now our group is perfect already :D"
Some pics to share from our Bintan trip, mostly taken by Mike (our "official photographer") and Elvin:
Day 1
Our Club Med luggage tag and room number
Waiting at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal
Source of entertainment to pass time : Hp and book
The rest entertaining ourselves with one another
Popping the bottle on the ferry with Abel, our top ELP and Chin who just closed his first case :)
Arrived at Bintan Club Med Resort
The room
The scenaries from our room
Camwhoring inside the room. Ha...
The relax corner: swimming pool
One of our fav. corner - The Paranoma Bar, which is located at highest point of the main building. This cozy corner here offers a fantastic view that overlooks the poolside, the beach and the sea. Of course, the free flow of drinks (coffee, tea, cocktails, alcohol) heightens the experience. Just imagine sitting there, holding a drink in your hand and enjoying the gentle breeze blowing on your face. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh~~~~~ Pure paradise!
Specially reserved for AC :) There was a wide selection of international and asian buffet spread. Unfortunately by the 3rd day, we were kinda getting sick of the food. We started craving for chicken rice, hokkie mee and char kway teow. Lolz... All meals there are also serve with free flow of red and white wine, beer and beverages. We can also request for the whole bottle of wine anytime and shared among the whole table. Basically, all food, drinks, facilities and activities around the resort are included in the package. The Club Med concept of prepayment for virtually everything means that we don't even have to bring out our wallet during our entire stay there. I really felt like a queen over there. Shiok to the max!!! :D
Dining with one of the friendly Guest Officers (G.O) (in blue). Part of their job is to mingle around and interact with the guests by joining in their dining session. Sounds like a fun job to be in :)
The boys obviously delighted to see so many female G.Os roaming everywhere
Chillax-ing (chill out + relax) while waiting for our drinks from the bar counter
Went to one of the outdoor restaurants, 'The Terrace' for our goal setting. Apparently, this place is totally empty in the late noon. So we get to enjoy our little private corner by the beach.
The magnificent view of the China sea from the restaurant
The beach
Love this pic! So fantasy and magical kinda fwweeel~~~
The waves crashing against the rocks
Back to the serious stuff!
Chillaxing by the poolside after a heavy dinner
Poolside entertainments
Sabrina enjoying her bamboo dance
Eugene practicing his kicks with the G.O, Kenny
The funny few who requested the bazaar owner near the poolside to write this chinese caligraphy for them, which pieces together to form the word :
Gan Lin - Lao Mu - Cao Zhi Bai
(Say it in hokkien for best effect!)
Wahahahhahaa.....
Day 2
The golfers all geared up!
The non-golfers who stayed behind for our own activities
The Club Med activities schedule listing
Actually within Club Med itself, there is alway something we can do over there. There is a wide selection of activities such as yoga, aqua-aerobics, archery, pool, tabel tennis, trapeze, beach volleyball, kayak, sailing and wind surfing etc. They also have an air-conditioned gym, squash, tennis, badminton and basketball courts. Classes are conducted for those interested in courses like hip-hop etc. For the mahjong addicts, they even have a 24hrs mahjong room there! Even wireless internet are provided free of charge. So how can anyone gets bored there??? :D
Ok. The ONLY thing that is NOT FREE within Club Med is their spa package. The price is VERY NICE too. Ha! According to Eugene who tried it during his previous trip here, it was an out of the world experience.
Due to budget constraint, Eugene hired 2 cars to drive us out of the resort to their town area for the spa package. The price there is certainly cheaper. There were several packages to pick and choose from, depending on our preference. In general, each package lasts about 2-2.5hrs. i went for the first package: Bintan Relax, which consists of a body scrub and massage :)
Everyone mulling over which package to choose
After the relaxing 2-2.5 hrs, we retreated back to our resort for dinner.
Btw, the sand there is so different from sg's one. You can practically sleep on it over there.
Giant chessboard
The whole area looks so chio and classy at night!
The G.Os performing a mass dance and engaging the crowd to follow along to their steps
Proceeded to the beach for our night activities : Beach volleyball and Soccer
And the 2nd night ends with several rounds of Martell that the guys brought there (nope, Martell is not free at Club Med). Needless to say, some went into "merlion mode", many were forced to "Ta" the drinks (me especially. Damn!!!) and some can't even rem what happened the next day. Me and Chin were somehow unofficially crowned as the "Snacks IC". So now our whole group has a drink IC, drunk IC and snacks IC. Lolz...
Day 3
So Zzzzzzzenn! Yoga woah~ Are they trying to make themselves feel better after the highs of the previous night? Lolz...
Eugene, Mike and Chin testing their golfing skills
Due to the monsoon season, sea activities were out of bound during that period. So imagine how disappointed we were initially to find out that we cannot go kayaking, sailing or scuba diving. To our surprise, on this particular day, the G.O told us the weather was suitable for some sea activities. Woo Hoo!!! Under the supervision of the instructor, we were allowed to sail out to the sea!!! It was quite scary though while we were out there, because the whole thing could have flipped anytime. At one point the wave was so strong that i was almost pushed off the raft. Thank goodness nothing happened in the end. The whole experience was really an eye opener for me and i was hoping to go for a 2nd attempt. Too bad it started drizzling after a while. So poor Mike who was waiting for his turn did not get to experience it.
The sail boats
Went back to the pool for captain's ball
The players :D
After a quick bath and a change of clothes, we returned to
'The Terrace' for dinner. The whole place looks as though it went through a total transformation at night. The outdoor lightings and the surrounding trees add to the mysterious charm of this secluded spot. Accompanied by the sea breeze and the sound of the waves crashing in the distance, most people, especially couples will love it here :) The only downside about this place is that due to the limited seatings, reservations must be done in advance at 8am on the day itself. Yes, if you are a lazy pig like me, you can basically forget about this place. The good thing news is, for those who are sick of international buffets, the grilled food here at least offers something different. To be honest, the quality here is also slightly better though the varieties are so much lesser. Oh well, sometimes quality over quantity is worth it i guess.
Extra bonus: A breathtaking view to enhance your dining experience
The dining area
The perfect ambience for a perfect evening
Our "uniform" given by Bandar from his bkk trip a few mths back. Lolz...
Another cheers to our group!
Taking group shots with our own mgr group :)
The "heroes" behind the group shots above. Haha... Both Gunny and Ow Yong gotta take turns to block the head lights with that plastic bag, just to get the right lightings for Mike to take those lovely group shots.
Our entire group against the backdrop of the main building :D
Trapeze performance by the G.Os
We were all amazed by how acrobatic these G.Os are. They can do somersault, swing and catch hold of the other person, and then swing back to the original position, all in one movement! The entire performance seems so effortless and graceful, which makes you wonder have they been practising these stunts for their entire lifetime??? O_o
Some of the fellows beginning to feel the effect from all the activities in the past few days. Wahahahaa...
Day 4
A bright and sunny day :D
This pic taken by Elvin reminds me of the Phuket postcard. Nice!
Oops!!! Poor Abel accidently bang his head against a board at the tennis court and ended up with a couple of stitches on his head.
Time to checkout! 
Taking a final group shot before we leave the place
On the ferry back to Sg. We upgraded our seats to the executive class in the upper deck. The seats feel so different from the normal class one. Much more comfy. Shiok! They even served us free drinks plus we had priority in terms of boarding and alighting the ferry. Totally worth paying a little bit extra for a comfort ride home :)
*Ps: I noticed several "trophy marks" all over my arms and legs caused by those beach soccer, volleyball, trapeze etc after i reached home. Makes me wonder did i just came back from a camping trip? Lolz...
Posted by 大路痴
@ 3:31 PM
10 comments
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Me on my virgin attempt at the trapeze. I was the only person among us to complete the full set: the upside down hang and the backflip during landing. Didnt know i was so agile up there. *PUKE* (Ya, i heard that!) It's not easy ok! I am so proud of myself! Wahahaahahaaaa... 
