Date: Apr 29, 2016
It was Labour Day long weekend.
The Chen Family and the Liew Family is on the move again.
This time, we spent time in Loola Adventure Resorts on Bintan Island.
Where is it?
- Take the ferry from Tanah Merah Jetty Terminal.
- 2 hours to reach Tanjung Pinang.
- About 1 hour from Tanjung Pinang Jetty Terminal to Loola Adventure Resorts.
The Resorts
Mostly wooden rooms.
There are some sea view houses also.
This is the 4 rooms bungalow (only 1) that my friend book for us. It can actually house 7 person (one single bed room and three double bed rooms).
There is a huge living room. Where we can sit on the table to eat snacks.
There is a day bed there. Small activity table, that has some board games. And a dry kitchen.
I love the windows. And the view outside.
Very cozy room. Comes with mosquito net.
And every bed comes with an air-con. The staff says it is a eco-air-con. In the day time, they make use of the solar power to freeze the ice. And at night, the ice cool air will come out from this air-con something like this. But it is very nice.
Toilet and Shower room.
This is the swimming pool. But mainly is used for the flying fox. The bottom is very slipperily.
Things to note…
- There is no room service. But the room is equip with plenty of beer, coke, and sprites. Of course lots of water.
- There is no common drinking pub. So, make sure you buy the liquor at Singapore when you come in. You can bring in one bottle for each adult. We bought 4 bottles of wine at the free duty shop.
- There is no amenity shop, please bring every thing. If you really need any thing at all, you can ask the staff to go buy.
- Every group or family will be assigned a trainer. Ours is Elsa. She will take care of everything. She even climbs tree and kayaking. And make your Latte.
The Food
The food is simple. 3 dishes per meal.
You can order extra thing, but it is chargeable.
There are two types. Western or local food.
Pizza.
Fish and chips. The fish is very fresh and very nice.
Simple Vegetables.
Curry Chicken. Nice.
So, this is your meal. Looks like this.
- For breakfast, it is bread + kaya, jam and chocolate.
- But you can order extra. Like everyday, we ordered the Nasi Lemak. So, basically it is a very nice chilli eggs. And when you eat it with the coconut rice, very nice.
- For all the lunch and dinner, you can order extra stuff too. But it will be chargeable.
- Whatever you order, you pay cash. Preferred Indonesia Rupiah. There is no Visa machine here.
Otak Otak is really good. Make sure you ask them to go out and buy.
This is squid ink squid. Very nice. And the ink is so much. And tasty.
Green curry dish. Nice too.
Oh ya… if you thinking of celebrating your birthday there. There is no cake. You have to get the cake from Singapore over. hahahaha
Star Gazing
This is Loola Resorts at night.
But the fun begins when we see so many stars above. Even my non-DSLR camera (Lumix Fz1000) is having fun here.
Sitting there taking the photo of the stars is enjoyable.
Make sure your camera can have wide angle, WiFi control so your shaky hand won’t spoil the photo. ISO about 6400, F=3.2, SS=4″ or 10″ is fine.
Of course, you need a little bit of luck too.
- Choose the date there is no big full moon. There is an app you can use to find this info. Because the moon will be very bright and then you can’t see all the stars.
- Choose the date that not so many people come and stay at Loola. Like our first night, Friday night, there is only 2 families staying there. But the 2nd night, there are more than 100 people. Because more lights will be turned on. So, more lights means no good.
- Pray hard there is no cloud and no rain.
- Must bring tripod. I only using my shoes to balance and stabilise it.
Our second day stay was very cloudy. But the last day was amazing! Half of the Milky way. I have never seen such a nice sky before.
Make sure you also have at least one photo grapher who can teach you how to take these nice stars photo.
Even taking the bon fire is fun.
You can track the fire ash.
It is real fun for a non-professional photographer like me and Lee Hooi. Boon Ching macam like expert teaching both of us. hahahaha
On the last day, we even delay our dinner for almost 40 minutes just to take such a nice shot. (In my opinion).
And you really learned how to take photo in the dark.
Sun Rise
The sunrise photo are stunning.
About 5:30 the sun rises.
Its peaceful and beautiful.
Very round like an egg.
Hello sun!
Very nice!
Some time at the right moment, you can see the sky turned into multi colours. Very nice.
The Fun and the Adventure
You can take nice photos of the boys.
Marine walk is probably a daily event. Pick up the crab.
Look at the hermit crab.
There are colour changing gecko.
The kids even get sea cucumber. Make sure you bring a tupperware there. Some sort of container for the kids to catch the marine life. And make sure you let them go back their life. The kids are taught this way. 🙂
I think this is a tiny milk shark that live near the mangroves. I think got bitten by bigger fish. And die.
Kay loves the hermit crab.
Small lobster.
The sun is very hot. Please make sure everyone put on sunblock.
The whole idea is to let the kids learn and get their hands dirty.
See our hermit crabs.
My purple crab.
Oh ya. The soccer field is nice. The kids are enjoying kicking the ball here.
There are table tennis, and basketball too.
The kids going to climb the wall today.
This is the first time Jay done it. And he done it twice. I am very proud of him.
How tall is it?
Its Kay Kay turn.
Kay made it too. This is also Kay’s first time doing rock climbing.
Good job Kay!
The mummies turn.
cool mummies.
In the afternoon, we are taking a bus ride about 20 minutes to do our next adventure. All of us are on swimming suits.
We are on a fishing boat.
What are we doing here?
It’s bom net. Basically you jump from the boat into this net.
Are you ready Kay?
It is really fun!
You can jump from the first storey or the second storey.
Nice jump Kay Kay!
Countless jumps.
Jay Jay jumping from second level.
Getting all the four boys jump together.
All kind of patterns come out. Well done Kay!
Fishing time.
Fishing is definitely a great enjoyment. But may not be able to fish the fish, but crab I think can. We caught a lot of crabs.
Real Archery time.
You can shoot it side way. Like a cross bow.
Or you can shoot it like a professional.
Even the young one can shoot arrow with daddy’s help.
Ready get set go!
How about climbing a real coconut tree. Kay very happy as he beat his brother. Jay too heavy cannot climb a tree. Kay made it to the top.
When you are tired. Just hug the tree.
Perhaps the most scary one is the leap of faith jump. Basically, you climb the ladder, and then walk to the middle of the pole, and then just jump.
Kay made it. He actually fell down. But it is a good experience.
Kayaking is very tiring.
But it is fun if you made it.
This puffer fish got bitten by something and slowing dying.
It is a nice place to bring kids.
Takes lots of photos.
Star Jump on the water.
Woo hoo….
Caught another big crab.
On the last day, before you hit the ferry, don’t forget to check out this nice sea food restaurant.
The food are fresh and fabulous. Also, don’t forget to tabao Otak Otak.
My kids had the most fun here on this island. They live close to the nature. They smile and laugh a lot. And now, we have to work hard on Jay’s SA1 exam which will start 3 days later. hahahahahahahahaha
Last comment…
Comparing with Nikoi and Loola, each have different strength. But if you like lots of service, pick Nikoi. If you are fine with basic service, then Loola seems more fun. I like both of them and definitely if got chance will come back again.
