But just last week I was at the Bintan Resorts. And in my short stay there, I discovered some really great things about the place. Shamelessly, I am already thinking about going back there sometime soon, either alone or with Kenji. And that is, despite the 3-day 2-night vacation, which I have just had, appeared somewhat uninteresting and not at all mind-building.I was in Bintan for a short stay sometime in March this year (hence last week was my second vacation in the island actually). In the earlier trip, I stayed on Bintan's east coast where I was lodged at Trikora Beach for 3 days 2 nights before moving southwest to Riau's capital, Tanjung Pinang, for a night before returning to Singapore the following afternoon.
But last week, I was on the island's northern tip where I stayed at one of its seemingly top-end beach resort accommodation, called the Nirwana Resort Hotel, a place I initially hated so much to go because of its artificiality yet enjoyed my time throughout despite being 'enclaved' in just the resort area.
Nirwana Resort Hotel for your info is one of ten resort accommodations under the Bintan Resorts management, situated just as the clustered-others on the northern tip of the Bintan island. Built with appealing features of its own, the Nirwana Resort Hotel is located on a beach in the Nirwana Gardens, and is said to have gained its popularity through its pool-beach combo and resort-style hotel.
Despite these magnificent-sounding features, neither the grandeur of the pool-beach combo nor the luxuriousness of the resort-style hotel was appealing to me though. Instead I found the beach-front location, clean, white, sandy beach, and crystal clear, warm water more alluring. Besides, what could be more breathtaking than these in-a-way-natural features?
Other than the location, beach and water, what seemed just as pleasing to me would have to be the leveled and gradual beach slope, as well as the relatively flat and gentle waves. For I thought nothing could be more tempting than a beach that appeared really good for swimming. Other than that, the sea current too seemed much to be appreciated for as it was favorably weak despite the occurrence of rain and wind at noon on all three days that I was there.
However, what seemed to have been more enjoyable on my part is none other than the lack of existence of wild dogs on the beaches and in the resort areas. Except for once when I spotted two dogs (like the kind Lobo had in Shady Shack, Trikora) at about 5:30 on Sunday morning but which ran away afterwards as I walked on the beach for some pictures of sunrise. Other than that though I thought I was free to walk around the place the rest of the time without having much to worry about especially on roaming wild dogs.
Despite all these plus points however, I honestly thought a 3-day 2-night stay in Nirwana Resort Hotel, or any resort in the Bintan Resorts for that matter, is long enough for almost anyone per se. Apart from the created amenities that might appeal to a guest, I thought the stay was somewhat boring and mind-numbing, in particular because 'everything' was within the massive Nirwana Gardens.
But I survived my mind-numbing moments there without much difficulty. Thank goodness there was the cable TV in my room or otherwise I'd have to keep swimming regardless of weather, dining regardless of the over-priced food and drinks, or just spending some big amounts of money on the created amenities like nobody's business.
But now that I am back, I thought things didn't look too bad though. And thankfully there are more of the good times than bad ones of the vacation that I remember, which is a good thing. Anyways, if you are keen to find out more about my thoughts during my stay at the Nirwana Resort Hotel, please read the notes below.
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FOOD - The food at Nirwana was awesome. Nasi Lemak especially was superb. It was nothing like I have tasted in Singapore or Malaysia. But I felt a bit embarrassed for that though. Because it shows that Riau people can cook better Nasi Lemak than the Malays in Singapore and Malaysia could apparently. Nasi Lemak is a Malay cuisine and I would personally consider the Riau people as non Malays after having met and spoken to some, most of whom originate from Indonesia and do not speak Malay. Also, I could not really tell if the chef simply had great recipes, or could cook really well but I just have this feeling that the food over there was naturally tasty. The food I ate tasted less artificial but I still wonder what was in the food that make them all so different.
WORKERS - The workers at Nirwana Resort Hotel seemed really hardworking. Throughout my stay, I did not see any worker hanging around, chit chatting or smoking away with fellow workmates. They were all doing their work! It was a pretty good sight and I hope they are well paid and well treated. Also, since room rates, hotel services, food and beverage, and the resort facilities all share pretty much similar price range as that of hotels along Orchard Road in Singapore, I hope the workers are neither exploited (as cheap labour) nor taken for granted by the resort management.
PICTURES - I took many pictures throughout my brief stay at Nirwana. On Sunday night and for the first time, I uploaded about 392 digital pictures to my laptop all at one time. All 392 pictures were taken on the recent Bintan trip. Almost a quarter of the pictures taken were pictures of trees though. It seemed rather stupid I know. Luckily I was using digiCam so it wasn't 'that' bad after all. I could still erase some pictures which looked rather stupid or that I don't really like. I could also view the pictures at no cost because it is digital. But the abundant pictures of trees taken just tells me how easily excited I get over natural sceneries (am I really that far from nature?). The quick and vast changes in the sky and its impact onto the entire beach landscape really got me on my camera. But I guess it also tells how quite boring Nirwana Resort can be. The whole enclaved resort-thing simply does not have many features to capture on photograph.
ARCHITECTURE - I am not quite sure actually if the word "architecture" really should be here to describe this paragraph. But it seems like it is the architecture and design of Nirwana Resort Hotel that I would like to talk about here. Still, I don't know if "architecture" is correctly used to refer to my thoughts. But anyhow, I just thought the resort hotel looked very much like some schools in Singapore! It was crazy. I was walking to a staircase on my first day there when I realized I was like walking in a school. And the way the corridor to the rooms appeared, as well as the arrangement of the blocks of buildings were, just seemed so much like a school to me. My perception of the-resort-hotel-looking-like-a-school however continued on for the next 2 days without fail. And for that, I must say I was rather certain that my perception of it looking like a school was right. So I was a bit disappointed in the appearance of Nirwana actually. And I did wonder, of course, if 'they' had no sense of creativity or this was simply the best way of making the resort. But I hope, thinking of the place as a school is just me!
Well, I guess that is all I have for now. Will add more things to this post or pictures to the blog over time. So just keep checking this post/blog out. Cheers!
Map Reference:
Bintan Island Tourism Map, www.indonesia-tourism.com, Available [Online]: http://www.indonesia-tourism.com/riau-archipelago/map/bintan-island.html, 01/03/2007.
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