Longing for a holiday at East Coast of Bintan?

I visited Bintan island recently. The ferry was rather slow. It started at ZON Ferry Terminal, Johor Bahru at 3.00 pm and reached Bintan at 7.30pm (based on Malaysia time, not adjusted). It took 4 and a half hours to reach there! Based on normal speed, it should be around 3 hours.

It was dark then. Being first time in Bintan and at that late hour, I have no choice but to seek assistance from a tout who brought me to a few hotels for me to make a choice. Finally I stayed at Hotel Furia.

Alas! Hotel Furia actually is quite near to the Tanjung Pinang Jetty, the place I landed on the island the previous day. One may walk from the Jetty to the Tanjung Pinang town to look for hotel. There are plenty of hotels in town.

The next day, I went to the East Coast of Bintan. I hired a car to bring me there.

The attraction at East Coast is Trikora Beach stretching from km30 to km53. Some parts of the beach are covered with sand, other with coral.

My driver brought me to a few hotels and resorts.

The first one was Bintan Agro Beach Resort & Spa. It has a swimming pool, a restaurant and a stretch of sandy beach. The room rates were medium starting from S$99.00. I should say it is a premium hotel around this area.

I like fishing. The driver let me make a choice between Ocean Bay Resort and Kolam Kelong Trikora. Both built their lodge on stilt and surrounded the sea with net to rear fishes. Kolam Kelong Trikora seemed to do better. I decided to have a rest by angling. I managed to get a fish and handed over to the restaurant to cook for my lunch.

After taking my lunch, before going back to Tanjung Pinang, my driver brought me to a resort with diving services. It was Traveler Pondok Wisita. It has a couple of rooms for visitors to rest. I met the friendly owner who was the diving guide.

I returned to Tanjung Pinang to catch the last ferry back to Johor Bahru with an impressive memory of the East Coast of Bintan.

This post is written by Chai Yong of http://www.temasekmap.com/ which is about an ebook "Travel Guide of Singapore Batam Bintan & Johor".

Singapore Flyer

After we have heard about the London Eye and Malaysia Eye, Singapore Government recently launched its Singapore Eye i.e. Singapore Flyer. They named it differently to differentiate from those in London and Kuala Lumpur.

Obviously it is the latest tourist attraction in Singapore. The Singapore Government has spent billion dollar to build it.

Its special features include its height of 165m which is the height of a 42 storey building. To date, it is the highest eye in the world. Very soon it will be surpased by another eye in an Asian country.

The duration for one ride is about 30 minutes. Its cabin is fully air-conditioned and UV protected. There are altogther 28 cabins and each cabin can accommodate 28 passengers.

The basic fare for an adult is S$29.50 and a child S$20.65. It is recommended that the ride be used for celebration purpose like birthday etc.

During clear weather, one may be able to see vividly the southern islands of Singapore, some Indonesian island and Johor.

This is message is written by Chai Yong of http://www.temasekmap.com/ which sell an ebook "Travel Guide of Singapore Batam Bintan & Johor" and maps.