Beautiful Bintan: Fun at Angsana!

Singapore celebrated its 44th birthday on Sunday (National Day) and since its a public holiday (just like our 4th of July), Matt didn't have to work on Monday...so we took advantage of the long weekend and hopped over to Bintan, Indonesia! Getting over to Bintan couldn't be easier - its just a 45 minute ferry ride over to the island - and once you're there, you're in paradise! The south China Sea is crystal clear and the water is warm, plus the beaches of Bintan have the softest sand either of us have ever stepped foot on! What more could we ask for?! We checked into our hotel, The Angsana, and made a mad dash for the beach :-) It was everything we'd hoped it would be - completely perfect for a weekend of relaxation...and relaxing is all we did on the first day. We read in the sun, swam in the calm waters and spent the afternoon collecting sand dollars along the beach. When the sun started to set, we went back inside and got ready for dinner...and what a yummy dinner it was! An all you can eat buffet with a fabulous selection. We couldn't get enough of the great food! It was a totally perfect way to spend our first day away together from Singapore!

This is an angsana flower which is what our hotel is named for. I love it!

Standing in the hotel lobby looking down at the dining area.

What a good lookin' husband I have :-)

Me under the umbrella...where I stayed most of the day. The sun was really strong!

The beautiful south China sea!

Look at the water behind us...warm and crystal clear!

I can't even begin to explain how excited I was over a REAL Diet Coke instead of the Coke-Light that is all over Singapore. Coke Light tastes completely different to me and does nothing for my obsession over true Diet Coke. I now love Indonesia even more than I did to start!

Detail of one of the (many) sand dollars I collected. How can something picked up right out of the ocean look so completely perfect?! Just one of God's miraculous creations!

...and because I like to pretend I'm artistic, I went for a close up shot of my sand dollars in a glass cup with the blurry palm trees in the distance. Oh I know...you're totally impressed.

Two thumbs up to the Pantai Grill & Bar where we had a totally delicious buffet dinner!

The problem with buffets is that there is always too many options! Thankfully, Matt has a lot of self-discipline and only allowed himself to eat 4 desserts instead of the 7 offered ;-)

This is how I look when I think I'm about to enjoy a delicious bowl of vanilla ice cream only to find out its durian flavored instead.