Sentosa Walk

Doing a Sentosa walk is very interesting... it has little bit of everything... Curious ? Here I go:

First, the starting point is Vivo city .... haha., i know what you are thinking... dont stop and shop. Just walk across and hit the waterfront.

Do start with boardwalk and hit the Sentosa. Walk across the main point outside resorts world and Universal studios.. Take festival walk and reach Merlion Statue. Climb the stairs and stroll through old walkways and climb down under the Beach Station... now, you have two choices.. you can take right and walk in the Silosa Beach... beware... there might not be much of wind.

Or take left and head to Tanjong beach. there is road and walkway and you will start seeing beach once you reach Tanjong Beach Club.

If you are young and going as group, you can relax by the club and enjoy the Sun and bit of drinks before heading back.

I would advise you to do full walk and return to Vivo city for dinner. You have lot of choice to eat out - food village, marche or pasta mania at harbour front.

Walking distance up and down might come around 7 to 7.8 kms. It can take around 90 min.
Note: Dont think there are walk ways near Sentosa Cove or millionaire condos as they are restricted. 

What to do in Bintan and Batam

There are two nice towns near Singapore and they are as called Batam and Bintan.
Oh yes, you are right - they are in Indonesia. Let us chat about what to do there ! Trust me., they are ideal weekend getaways...

Batam:

Ferry and Immigration: 

Simple to reach, just an hour of ferry ride. No heavy tides. Straight forward immigration process at both sides. Sometimes, you might have put up with 30 min in Queue at Indonesian sides during peak hours. But 3 day or 4 day week ends - be there much ahead. You generally dont get questions about your purpose of visit or where you stay ...

Hotels: Lot of good hotels in Batam - ideal place to stay is Nagoya as it is closer to Nagoya Hill Mall. There are so many options and price range and I like Harmoni Hotel and Swiss Inn Batam.  Some of the very good pubs are located walkable distance from Harmoni Hotel or Goodway Hotel - like The Last Pub or Chilli Bar.

What to do: Shopping at Nagoya Hill - try ManZone or Matahari... try excellent food at SSS - Saung Sunda Sawargi - recommended if you go in large group; or try Teras Cafe if you go as couple. Gadeno will fit the purpose if you are concious of spending. 

Massage: There are so many massage parlours... they know what they do and offer quality massage services.  Option for Plus Plus is generally asked if you go alone and need to be tipped separately - over the bill. 

Nightlife: There are many options like Karoake bar - Permata Indah at Windsor central, Merlion Hotel or Kompleks Cipta Utam near centre point shopping centre - pls take separate room if you go as group ! Some interesting discotheque options are Ice Pub near Mandarin Residency Hotel or Ozon Discotheque at Bromo Komp. 

Simple pubs with loads of sports channel options are available near Harmoni hotel. You are allowed to smoke while drinking ! 

On weekends, teen age kids ride up bike and do wheeling near Batam centre after 1030pm. Excellent to watch their enthusiam and try some street food !

Bintan:

Ferry and Immigration: You need to first decide the play of stay ! There are special counters available at Bintan Lagoon Resort for example. Otherwise, there is Tanjong Pinang or BBT - Bandar Bentan Telani terminal.

Ferry ride is little volatile and can be turbulant at times based on high tide. Beware !

Hotels or Resort:  My preference of stay are Bintan Lagoon resort, Nirwana Resorts or Bintan Agro Beach Resort. Excellent properties and food options. There are also water sport activity or mangrove visit activity etc.

There are also hotels available like Aston which can be used for any seminar or business meeting. I would definitely advise Bintan also for team building exercises for office goers.

Massage: There are so many SPA options available with many of the resoirts.. They know what they do and offer quality massage services.

Shops: plenty of shops also sell swim suits and other accessories. Dont worry if you forget to take some along with you. 

Dinner: classy dining, wine options are available. You can enjoy peaceful dinner with family on the sea side. 

Some of the resort like Bintan Lagoon have also got pubs inside resort. 


Enjoy Travel and Bon appetit !

Picnic to Kusu Island

Intro:

Marina South Pier [Red line in SMRT] nicely ferries you to two Islands - St. John's Island and Kusu Island. I didn't realise that Kusu Island is a great picnic spot until I visited. Here I go with the write up on the nice time I had !

Plan your picnic: 

a. Buy food and drink (water,  beer or soft drinks) before you start the trip as there are no shops in both these islands.
b. Marina South Pier has some snack and souvenir shops.
c. Pls wear casual clothes and flip flops.
d. Do take sun glasses and sunscreen lotion.
e. How about taking bluetooth speakers if you are going in group ?

Where to Start:

Marina south pier and buy tickets for ferry - Adult price 18 SGD; Children 12 SGD.  Ferry will first head to St. John's Island first before heading to Kusu Island... in a loop. Understanding the ferry schedule could be little tricky - just remember you are starting at Marina South pier and first stop is St John's ... and then to Kusu Island - plan your hops accordingly.

St. John's Island:

Bigger land when compared to Kusu Island. It used to have a quarantine station. It has some trekking routes, beaches, fishing spots. It has National marine laboratory too. Walk around, enjoy the water and walk along mangroves.

It can take 45-90 min to complete exploring the spots. Pls refer to the map before you start walking.

Kusu Island: 

My favourite picnic spot is Kusu Island - you can go directly here without hopping down at St John's also. No compulsions.

This island has got a nice Tua Pek Kong (Grand Uncle) or Da Bo Gong - chinese temple build around 1923. You can walk around the temple and head to tranquil beaches.... for swimming and play in waters. It has lot of huts - eat well and enjoy the time with your friends and relatives.

Head back: Enjoy the great views of Marina, Downtown views and click pictures.

Thank you for reading. Make it memorable for your friends and family ! Have fun.

About this blog

Dear Readers.,

I am VJ and I love to explore new places. 

I wish to write about them and to help you plan your travel. Experiences, photographs are my own. I love vegetarian food also. 

Thank you for visiting. Do share your comments !

Time to Eat, Click and Move is the name of this blog.
Written and labelled as Boarding Pass ! 

With Best Regards,
VJ