Turning 22 @Turi Beach Resort, Batam | Part 1 - Tirta Wing

MynameisQUE;

<Sponsored 2D1N Stay at Turi Beach Resort
Sponsored Dress from The Plus Mannequin>

A week ago, yours truly turned 22 and decided to head to Batam for a mini retreat, courtesy of Turi Beach Resort with my friend Charlotte. I have to admit that I was so excited to leave the country (my last holiday was in November 2013) cus  it was my first time celebrating my birthday away from busy, busy Singapore. 

It's no secret that I really love Batam cus everything there is crazy cheap. Food, transportation, accomodation, groceries and many more. Whenever I head to Batam, normally I'd choose to the "city" area where I normally would stay at another, which is a walking distance to one of the biggest and most popular malls in Batam called the Nagoya Hill Mall. 

But it's my birthday and what better way to spend it at the resort where I could enjoy the sun, the sand and the beach! I'm such a sucker for resorts and beach holidays!!! 

So I chose to take a ferry from the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal to Nongsapura Ferry Terminal. 

I didn't know that we could check-in our luggages as long as it's below 20kg for free, so I did. Just that you'll have to pay a 10,000 Rupiah when at the Batam baggage collection counter. (About SGD$1) 

Happy because I'm baggage - free

The ride from SG to Batam took around 35 minutes ONLY. I loved how the terminal wasn't crowded at all. It could be cus I was there on a Friday instead of a weekend! :P 

We were provided land transfer from the terminal to the resort and were happily greeted by Awang, Turi Beach Resort'sTuri Beach Resort's mascot! :)

Turi Beach Resort is located at the Hang Lekiu Street, Nongsa, Batam and has a total of 141 rooms. Basically, the resort has 2 different wings -  the Riani and Tirta Wing. This also means that there are 2 swimming pools in the resort! Hell yeah bitchez! 

DID YOU KNOW? Turi Beach Resort recently emerged as the "Best Resort in Batam 2014" category winner, crowned by the Batam Tourism Office.

Here's Charlotte quenching her thirst with our welcome drink. 

I was just so delighted to be out to the country! (Even if it was just 1 day)

Forgive me for the super unglam mosquito patch. I'm just a kiasu Singaporean and didn't want mozzies to feast on my blood while I was there.:) You'll also be pleased to know that there's a few packets of mosquito repellent cream in each room. 

If you need more, you can just call the front desk to request for more and they'll send it to you! How fantastic is that?! Superb service! It's no surprise why it's an award winning resort.

The Turi Beach Resort team brought Charlotte and I around to check out their rooms. Pretty neat I must say! :) 

Check out the Tirta Junior Suite. Super beautiful!

You'll definitely love the unique zen ambience in this room. 

Totally eyeing this room for my next trip to Turi Beach Resort! You can enjoy this room only at approximately SGD $308 per night. 

Bathtubs are only available in the suits so if you love all kinds of bubbles like me, this will be the perfect room for you! ;)

Take a dip into the pool located at the Tirta wing and enjoy the scenic view together with your special someone. Such a waste that we didn't have time to dip into the pool for a swim but it's alright because I'll be back!!! ;P #MarkMyWords

We also checked out the Tirta Premier BeachfrontWe also checked out the Tirta Premier Beachfront room. 

You can enjoy the room at only SGD$249 per night. ;)

Enjoy your own private balcony when you stay at rhe resort. 

Next, it's time to check out the Riani Wing! 

Wait but before that..... 

I'm going on a break! :P 

If you wanna find out how the newly renovated Riani wing looks like, how I spent my 22nd birthday, stay tuned for my next blogpost! ;) 

P/S If you're the adventurous kind and would like to try some water activities, check out what you can do here. You are welcome! Heh

Xoxo, 

Que

Short Getaway To Bali, Indonesia ~

MynameisQUE;

Headed to Bali for a short getaway last week. Seems like the whole world is heading to Bangkok/Bali for a holiday this December. Feeling quite accomplished because it is my first official overseas trip without my parents. I find it inspiring when I see other ladies, having the courage to travel the world on their own. Hmm.... Toying with the idea of doing the same next year. Solo. Sounds exciting! The game plan next year would be to go to Bangkok (with my family), Bintan (short getaway perhaps during the weekends) and Dubai (if I am disciplined enough to save and save my money). Woohoo! 

Bali is a good place for you to chill and destress. Just what I needed! Did not do much shopping but went for massages. Love, love, love! Seriously miss the full body massage. ;) 

Some photos of my trip. ^.^ 

They say that when you travel with a someone, you will really get to know the person. Couldn't agree more. The next time I head to Bali, I'm going to skip all the touristy places and just head to the beach. Didn't manage to catch the sunset or the sunrise. My favourite place in Bali has got to be Jimbaran Bay, where we ate along the beach while enjoying the breeze and the sound of the waves. Seafood there is expensive though!

There isn't a large variety of halal food in Bali as their main religion there is Hinduism, unlike other parts of Indonesia. However, you will still be able to find a couple of halal eateries along Kintamani, Kuta and Legian. Food there I feel isn't fantastic. However, if you have any to recommend, please share it in the comment box below. <3

Thanks for reading and happy holidays!!

Xoxo

Landed at Bandung, Indonesia. The shopping begins!

MynameisQUE;

Time to blog about my trip to Bandung! Actually, I'm still here and I'll be flying back to Singapore tomorrow evening. I honestly do not want to leave. I had such a great time here. Good food, good shopping, what more can you ask for?

Me and my favourite floral dress. Seriously. I love this dress so much. It makes me feel special. Took Silkair with my family. The flight went pretty well. 

 The queue just to get our passport chops was insane. We waited for about 20 minutes. 

Our tour guide and driver Mr Hidayat and Mr Selamat fetched us from the airport and off we went for dinner at Taste Paradise. Imagine feeling exhausted and then when you reach this restaurant, food was already served for you! 

Taste Paradise 

Paskal Hyper Square A-29 Bandung,

West Java Indonesia

 Sweet and Spicy fish 

 Beancurd and mushrooms

  Tom Yum Soup!

 Kai lan ~~

  Kung Pao Chicken

According to their Facebook page, they sell dimsums, chinese food, bbq and seafood at their restaurant. Yummy! I'm probably going to feature quite a few food places in bandung over the next few post because the food here is really delicious! :) 

Right after that, we went to 1 of the factory outlets along Dago. 

Here's also where I bought my Hermes Polo Ts. :) Hehe 

Meow meow. that's all for day one! Time to rest. I'll be working this weekend at the Expo for the SmartKids Asia 2012 event.  So mummys and daddys if you're free this weekend, you should bring your kids to the expo. I'll be at the Dettol booth teaching kids the 8 steps of washing hands. ;) 

Xoxo

Live Update: Day 2 in Bandung!

MynameisQUE;

We're done with Day 2 of my Bandung trip. Finally back in the hotel after a whole day of walking, eating and shopping. I did quite a bit of shopping. Kinda unexpected because I normally can't buy much anyway cus the countries I normally go to do not have plus sized clothes. But here in Bandung, Indonesia, I found quite a few good buys. Then again, it's not really easy to find and + there isn't a huge variety, but it's definitely cheaper than the clothes you'll find in Singapore. Spent about $150 SGD already. I also bought 3 white Hermes Polo Ts for work on Friday. ORIGINAL OKAY. Hahahahaha kthxbai :>

Will share with you the stuff I got really soon! Happy holidays everyone!! 

Xoxo

Child pageants; An eye opening experience at Batam ~~

MynameisQUE;

If you catched yesterday's episode of Get Rea! on Channel News Asia... I helped out for that episode!!! I was CNA's translator. Hahahahaha So... Yeah. In October, Mandy, the producer of Blogtv and Get Real contacted me to ask if I wanted to follow the crew to Batam for a shoot and be their translator. I wasn't sure at first than I thought about it and it's really a golden opportunity, so I asked my parents and they allowed me to go! 

It was my first time officially travelling alone without my parents. I was really so excited! I can't believe my parents allowed me to go for this trip. I guess, they're letting me fly like a bird now. Haha :) 

Mandy and I. 

I love Batam. Then again, the only reason I normally go there is just for a short getaway, so this time... It was for "work". Quite fun!! 

Left, Mr Soundman and right, Mr Cameraman. 

OKAY BACKGROUND STORY

We went to Batam because there was a child pageant happening that day. Julia is 17, has currently stopped schooling to pursue her job as a model. She's currently managed by Silhoutte Models Batam.  To enter the model agency, normally the models are required to pay fees, but for Julia, she was offered a scholarship. Under this agency, she has modelling, catwalk, dancing classes and many more. 

In this picture, Julia is on the left. :) 

Heading to the house of the family whom we were interviewing. 

There's Julia! 

Her little sister is the one taking part in the beauty pageant on that day. 

 Her dress for the pageant. 

Process of making the costume. :) 

Shandry is Julia's little sister, the one taking part in the pageant.

The trophies, the sisters won during modelling contests etc. 

These were other girls who were competing for the pageant. 

Here's Shandry. In my opinion, the sisters' exotic look really plays an important role as it definitely makes them stand out from the rest of the girls! Their mum Jennifer is actually from Africa. Their dad used to work at the Indonesia Embassy in Africa. They fell in love and Jennifer followed her husband back to Indonesia. Life is really hard for them because their dad found it very hard to get a job there. The family has been depending on the money Julia earns from modelling for about 3 years or now. 

Check out the other contestants here. They were all super gorgeous! :) 

The kids anxiously waiting for results... 

Shandry won best catwalk! We're really proud of her. I have to admit that when it comes to catwalk, Shandry was poised, elegant and definitely confident. At first, she was actually very shy with us. She was quiet and didn't look at our camera much, but when she was on stage. She glowed, her confidence and personality shined through. :) 

I was extremely tired after the whole event. Look at that face! Haha :) 

It definitely was an eye opening experience for me. For these girls, modelling is not just a regular job. It's a responsibility they have to cope with. It gives regular gives these girls hopes. I think another person that should be mentioned in this post is Ms Silvia Hilda. She gave these girls a chance to pursue their dreams. It's really touching when you see these girls going up stage, doing their thing and making their parents very proud of them. :) 

And after that... off to dinner with one of the staff from the model agency. She gave us a treat! Thank you!

Lol I can't remember what's the name of this but it's super nice! 

Rice all rolled up! 

The crew and I were damn hungry by the time the event ended. We had the last ferry to catch too or else we won't be able to go home! LOL 

Anyway, here are some photos of Julia! You never know, maybe if you photographers are looking for an Indonesian for a shoot, maybe you could work with Julia? :D

*Nosebleed!!* She's extremely hot ~~

Thank you Mandy and Channel News Asia for the opportunity. :)

I really hope things will get better for Julia's family.

Xoxo,
RynaQUE