From Singapore's Changi Airport, we proceeded to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal to catch the 2pm ferry to Bintan Island in Indonesia. The ferry ride was horrible! The floating platform at the boarding area was so wobbly that we got a bit dizzy already... and we're not even IN the boat yet! I had to make a little jump at the cue ("go!") of the crew who were holding us as we jumped into the ferry. {On our ferry back to Singapore, as I was jumping off the boat, I probably looked nervous coz the crew member who was assisting me said "Don't worry, Miss." } You know that lurching feeling inside your stomach when you ride Anchors Away at Enchanted Kingdom? Imagine feeling that for an hour and a half! Yeah, riding the Arung Mendara ferry to Bintan was THAT bad. But thanks to Pfizer's Bonamine, I did not have to use the blue motion sickness bag:) My officemates Jane, Vic and Bianx all had motion sickness and Ed had to attend to Jane & Bianx while I attended to Vic. We weren't able to eat lunch before we rode the ferry so we were so famished by the time we got to Bintan. By the way, Indonesia was 1 hour behind Phils./S'pore time.
the hotel lobby and the fish faucet that fascinated me...
beautifully crafted indonesian dolls/puppets for sale at the hotel shop...
Upon arrival at Bintan Lagoon Resort, the first few things we saw in our room was a can of Baygon spray and packs of a local insect repellent. Hmm. That didn't offer a comforting thought. I guess we were in the company of a variety of island bugs, yikes! True enough, our al fresco welcome dinner by the beach was occasionally marked with a small insect drowning on the strawberry syrup for the dessert cakes and some big bugs flying over our starry starry night sky.
tourists beware... arm thyself with this!
We were basically cooped up in our conference room from April 28 to 29 as we listened to everyone's presentations regarding marketing/sales strategies, a Fuji vs. HD vs. Kodak case study and an interesting Digital (HD) vs. Film presentation from a guest cinematographer from Singapore. The team went to the hotel's videoke after dinner on the 28th but I wasn't able to get a chance to enjoy it coz I, along with two of my Singaporean colleagues in charge of inventory had to access our ERP system that night... had to do some urgent work done coz we were having an inventory discrepancy back in the Philippines (ugh! I didn't even get to drink the margarita I ordered at the videoke bar!)
We had a free night to ourselves on the 29th so Vic and I joined our Thai colleagues for a night out of the hotel. Upon our local contact's recommendation, we went to this tourist plaza called Pasar Oleh Oleh. Not much, really. Just some restaurants serving local food and a number of shops selling expensive (rip-off!) tourist souvenirs. I was liking this small wooden jar (about the size of a Clinique All About Eyes jar) with a bright intricately painted design but it costed around Php500. No way! So anyway, we ate our dinner at Cafe Helo Helo wherein we ordered garlic fried Shrimp, Tom Yam soup, grilled fish and fried cuttlefish. Twas a good meal for about SGD 16.50/head (about Php511).
the entrance to pasar oleh oleh
the facade of cafe helo helo
bintang beer served on a heineken mug, hehe...
a traditional hut at the middle of the plaza
group picture at the entrance
On April 30, we had a team building at the Adventure Training Centre, conducted by Focus Adventure. Man, I am so not outdoorsy but I had fun doing the giant seesaw thing :) Didn't have as much fun though on the wooden skis thing coz it was so exhausting to pull the ropes up -- I had chafed my palms red in the process :( Had to hold ice cubes on my hand to relieve the redness. BUt anyway, overall, the team building day was fun. But come night time when we were already in Singapore, I felt my upper thighs ache from all that effort I don't normally exert everyday.
More photos of our team building here...
2 comments:
uy like ko yung khaki shorts mo... san mo nabili?
hehe thanks! got it from surplus shop lang noh ;-)
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