Lantern Festival Celebration

It's my 2nd year celebrating Lantern Festival & this year, we had another around of gathering with all my baby friends.

Auntie Amanda & Uncle Liverpool were very kind to open up their condo's function room for our gathering. Some of my friends came earlier to swim but I had to go to daddy's friend's daughter's full month celebratio prior to the the gathering. So by the time I woke up from my nap & reached Auntie Amanda's house, it was already 630pm.

It was a potluck session so mummy bought lotsa jellies along. There were fried rice, fried noodles, nuggets, fishballs, otahs, pizzas, mooncakes & curry chicken. All contributed by the other mummies.

We kids had fun taking turns to ride tricycles around the function room while the adults mingled around to catch up & enjoy the good food. Soon, it was time for lantern parade. Everyone carried their lanterns & walked a big round around the swimming pool. It was really nice to see brightly lit lanterns around the darken pool. It seems like twinkle twinkle little stars shining brightly in the moonlit night. We stopped by the children's playgroup & started playing with the slides in the dark. Haha, it was SO MUCH FUN! It's the only time of the year where we're allowed to play with candles & fire, not to mention playing in the dark playground.

After the lantern parade, it's BUBBLES TIME! All the kids were fanscinated by the bubbles & we kept runnning around, chasing & trying to catch them. Our hair are all wet by the time we finished. Mummy couldn't tell if it was due to the soap or perspiration.

My First Bintan Trip

Mummy's friend managed to bid for a villa at Bintan Lagoon Resort http://web.bintanlagoon.com/accommodation-villas.shtml from her company at a discounted rate, but as she was unable to go at the last minute, she had kindly offer mummy the opportunity to enjoy the facilities there & mummy had in turn, asked auntie ylc & her family along.

So on a Wednesday afternoon, we took a cab to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal to catch the 2pm ferry. Auntie ylc & her family were already there having their lunch so we quickly proceeded to check in. I was originally sleeping while on the way there, but quickly woke up as soon as we reached the terminal. I was so excited roaming & running around with my friend, Caitlin that we missed our boarding time until a ferry staff had to call us in.

The ferry was already docked at the jetty & everyone was busy boarding. I didn't feel any motion sickness because mummy had bought the motion sickness band for all of us. It acts by pressing on the acupuncture point on my wrist to prevent motion sickness.

After about 50mins ferry ride, we finally reached Bintan. Next, we transferred to a shuttle bus which took us to Bintan Lagoon Resort 30mins away. After we've checked in at the reception, we had to take another mini bus to arrive at our villa.

It was BEAUTIFUL! It's a 2-storey bungalow with attached private swimming pool. It also comes with a personal buggy. I was very excited & wanted to jump into the pool immediately, but then it started to drizzle & soon rained quite heavily. Mummy on the DVDs for us to watch while auntie ylc cooked macaroni cheese for us.

After some time, the rain still didn't stop. We reckoned since the pool water is warm enough & we're going to get ourselves wet anyway, so we don't mind going swimming despite the slight drizzle. All of us had fun soaking & swimming in the pool. We only got out when the rain became heavier again. We then spent the rest of the evening watching DVDs while the adults cooked dinner. I was so tired after swimming that I fell asleep at 630pm until the next morning.

The sun was shinning brightly the next day & we quickly took the opportunity to go to the beach after a nice breakfast of chicken pie & swissrolls. We took the buggy out & drove straight to the beach. Mummy & auntie ylc even tried driving the buggy. Haha. Caitlin & I had lotsa fun playing with the sand, building sand castles & blowing bubbles. Daddy was busy sun tanning himself while mummy laze around under the shade. We sweat so much that we immediately jumped into the private pool when we reached our villa. So shiok! Daddy, mummy, auntie ylc & uncle had a game of water polo while Caitlin & I were busy cheering away. It was so much fun. We were so disappointed when the sky suddenly darkened & rained.

After shower, I immediately dozed off. Mummy & daddy happily took the opportunity to have a quiet lunch while auntie ylc & family went to tabao some food from the resort restaurant. After a 2hr nap, it's another round of swimming & then we prepared to go out for a nice dinner.

We drove our buggy to the hotel lobby & requested for a taxi to take us to Pasar Ole Ole. The cab driver recommended a seafood restaurant which he claimed provide nice & clean seafood. It was dark by the time we reached there & the whole place is rather quiet. Save for a few tourists having their dinner. We headed straight to the recommended restaurant & ordered a set meal for 4 plus 2 crabs. The dinner was really nice & the price was reasonable. Definitely cheaper than the resort food. We also enjoyed the live band which performed songs to our requests. After dinner, we slowly strolled around the nearby shops & bought some tibits & ice-creams back to our villa. Again, I fell asleep immediately until the next morn when we took the morning ferry back to Singapore.

This is my 1st visit to Bintan & my first ride on the ferry. Overall, the trip is an enjoyable one for me. I enjoyed swimming, playing with sand & watching the big ships sail pass the ferry although daddy felt abit bored because there wasn't much to do at the villa except swimming, going to the beach & lazing around.

Here's some pictures to share...