Another weekend away

The much anticipated Annual MAE Social Weekend on Bintan has come and gone again. Of course the old adage "what happens on the trip stays on the trip" applies to all except readers of this blog. Bev was very organized having booked a bed at our place on the Sunday night so she didn't have to traverse the length of the whole island to catch the ferry on the Monday morning. I was well prepared having downed the Ginger Travel Sickness pills before leaving. When the Captain addressed the passengers before departure, suggesting that people move to the centre of the craft, I had a fair idea we were in for a rough crossing. And I was right. And I didn't make it without having to resort to a number of those ubiquitous plastic bags found in the pocket of every seat and swearing I would never be doing this again! So, while the rest of the group enjoyed a 10 pin bowling session I went to sleep. Thank goodness our cabin was available so early in the day. The package also included a bang up lunch at the Beach Club Cafe and I had recovered sufficiently by then to enjoy that. Punggol Branch won the Inaugural Bowling Champions Trophy and you can see how seriously everyone was taking on the challenge.

It wasn't long before everyone adjourned to the pool and then we convened later our cabin balcony for pre-dinner drinks to make the big decision about which outfit to wear to the Kelong Restaurant's Calypso Bar for sunset drinks. Most followed on to the Thai Restaurant for dinner and then a few regrouped to discuss the most important decisions facing the world on the balcony. (It was getting pretty late). 

We awoke at some ungodly hour during the night, both sweating and finding it very stuffy only to discover the power in our cabin was out. Opening a few windows helped but it took some time to get back to sleep and we were up early to catch a breeze on the balcony. Turns out Carolyn and Nicole in the adjoining cabin had suffered the same, as we shared the same fuse box. Management moved us to new cabins, ours with an extended balcony (how fortunate) and we treated ourselves to a wonderful breakfast buffet. Heather and Michael joined us for a walk out to the front gate via a jungle trail. Unfortunately there has been no rain here for some time, like Singapore, so it was all very dry and there was little wildlife to be seen. The gardens around the cabins are also not looking as good as in previous visits but they will recover. The lotus pond was ablaze with beautiful blooms. 

We finished up back at the Activities Centre where Eric did a gym session and the rest of us booked in for an afternoon massage then returned poolside.  Most of the others were also there, doing it tough. 

After the massage there seemed hardly any time before we were joined on the extended balcony for pre-dinner drinks again. Eric had managed to fit in a game of pool with a few others. Where does the day go? I thought we came here to relax! Without exception, the Indian Restaurant was chosen for dinner and it turned out to be a good decision. Guess where everyone reconvened after dinner?
It was good to sleep the night through uninterrupted and before we knew it Wednesday had arrived. After breakfast we checked out, caught the bus back to the ferry terminal and were back on the water though thankfully this crossing was much smoother. We had just enough time to drop our bags at Cherry Hill Condo, change and grab a bite for lunch, before the 2pm meeting at work. Perfect.