After a fun evening admiring Singapore’s skyline from a
skyscraper-top bar, aided by multiple lychee martinis, we were up (painfully)
early on the Saturday to move from Singapore Sojourn to 26-hour Indonesian
Interlude.
Due to Singapore’s odd location, just a one-hour ferry ride
away is the Indonesian island of Bintan. Given its proximity and the idyllic unspoilt
scenery, white beaches and gleaming turquoise sea, it’s a common weekend
destination for Singaporeans. We planned to join them.
We took the early ferry, passing through the now-visible
cargo and container ships. An astonishing sight, they were arranged in endless,
sweeping rows in all directions, making our ferry feel puny as it wound its way
in-between their looming hulls.
As if by magic, an hour later we moored up at a cute little
port with a jauntily coloured ‘Bintan Resorts’ splashed across the jetty.
Pictures and videos of the delights Bintan offered abounded,
and the locals were terrifically cheerful and very friendly.
Reflecting this trend, Bintan’s mascot-cum-emblem was this
pictured chirpy chappy, based on local indigenous face masks. He was on every
poster, with an outfit for each activity – snorkel, safari hat, sunglasses,
even a rose in his teeth. We could not resist mimicking Mr Bintan as we went
through customs, causing much hilarity with the customs team who demanded a
photo with us all (and so entirely forgot to check our stuff).
Warming to our theme, we got a local to take a picture of us
copying a giant eagle outside the terminal. Which it appears is the Indonesian
national emblem. Which could have been seen as pretty offensive. But the locals
seemed fine with it. Which was a relief.
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