DAY ONE
(Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal > Nongsa Ferry Terminal > Self-proclaimed photoshoot > Room service)
I tend to be the youngest everywhere i go, except with these kiddos whom i met while working at Yoguru. Suddenly become their dajie / laoma? Anyway, it's the kiddos first overseas trip with friends so here's a picture of our excited faces
Yay and we are finally finally here whoop ^^
I requested for connecting rooms so we had one queen-sized bed and two single beds.
View from our room *.*
Picnic lunch to fill our hungry tum tumz~
& here comes a series of photo spamz~
Really super duper crazy wind that we donated one instax and a flower from my headband to the sea. Anyway, the view is really magnificent. It's a shame i'm unable to capture that beauty and share it here so i really encourage everybody to just book a couple of nights at Turi and enjoy the beach view!
Room service for dinner whoop ^^ Was too hungry noming and trying to get wifi on our phones so much so that i forgot to take pictures using my dslr.
***
DAY TWO
(Buffet breakfast > Banana boat > Snorkeling > Jet skii-ing > Harbour Bay Seafood Restaurant > Nagoya Shopping Mall)
Pretty good buffet spread, i likey *.*
Poor zx fell sick so the three of us girls went ahead with the watersports!
The banana boat was pretty good!! Quite scary initially bcoz we were damn scared of the capsize and we thought we were going to die in the sea during our first capsize. The driver capsized us thrice and by the third time we were damn tired from having to climb back up to the damn banana boat. Yup i am a blob of fats.
Snorkeling + level 100 camwhoring in the sea (risking my phone in a waterproof bag).
& presenting to you the queen of camwhore! I don't even know how Mandy took this damn chio selfie out in the sea and it's so bloody clear through the damn plastic :O
Anyway, we wanted to do Parasailing but was told to wait for high tide at around 3.30pm. So we went to the pool to chill and try taking underwater shots (#failed).
But when we went back at 3.30pm, we were told that the wind is too strong to do Parasailing sobz. All of us were looking forward to doing Parasailing the entire trip!!! :"(
So we settled for jet skii-ing which i chicken out after 10 minutes. The sea was so choppy and we were told to venture and go all out. I was so afraid that i'm going to drive the jet-ski all the way back to sg. It's super scary for somebody like me who doesn't quite fancy adrenaline rush. And i was screaming throughout the 10 minutes while driving the jet-ski. Swear i thought i was going to fall off the jet-ski and die in the sea (eh it rhymes ok off topic).
So anyway, zx and i shared a jet-ski. I feel so sorry that he had to sit behind me with the jet-ski barely moving (it was just floating and moving along w the current haha) and had to tahan all my screams. But hey, i wasn't the only one afraid! There was another girl who got off the jet-ski and watch her boyf from shore okay haha #teamkiasi
Washed up, changed and caught a beautiful sunset!!
The sky is a mixture of blue, pink and purple hues. The view was really therapeutic and again, i was unable to capture the beautiful view on camera to share (sorry my lens not pro enough and my photog skills too amaetur). So anyway, i took the chance to snap a few photos of Stef in her maxi.
Off to Harbour Bay for seafoooooodddd ^^
Otahs / 2 Chilli Crabs / Sambal Kang Kong / Cereal Prawns / Mussels / Sotongs for approx sgd60.
Because we headed out pretty late, by the time we reached Nagoya shopping mall all the stores were already closing. We managed to speed-grab a couple of items off the shelves at the hypermart and get ourselves A&W supper.
***
DAY THREE
(Buffet breakfast > Best Layers for Kueh Lapis > Golden Prawn Seafood Restaurant > Back to sg)
The buffet spread was slightly altered from day two!
(Spot the difference from day two breakfast and day three breakfast haha)
The cab driver recommended us to Best Layers to order our Kueh Lapis. My family love it and it's a pity i only bought half a box back :"(
Golden Prawn for our seafood lunch ^^
We were still damn bloated from our buffet breakfast so we ended up not finishing the food. We packed them and passed it to our cab driver because he's a damn nice guy!!
We didn't order much because we were seriously damn full.
Sambal Kang Kong / BBQ Prawns / Cereal Prawns / 2 Chilli Crabs. Our stingray was oos sobz. And we came to a consensus that Golden Prawn have better and bigger crabs than Harbour Bay while Harbour Bay have tastier cereal prawns!
We didn't have time to do anything / go anywhere else after which :(
Seems like 3D2N aren't quite enough huh.
So yup, that pretty sums up the entire 3D2N trip to Turi Beach Resort. I've friends asking me if Montigo or Turi is nicer and i really can't decide, because both are equally good and worth the trip!! Turi is a much cheaper option though. I spent a total of less than $400 for this trip and i had approx sgd50 in rupiahs left at the end of the day (which was meant for me to shop at the hypermart lor).
THINGS TO DO:
1) Pick a couple of nice outfits & hair accessories to bring along and take a million photos
2) Try the various watersports (Rates for watersports at Turi -
HERE)
3) Suntan and chill by the pool (there's 2 pools at Turi) - SIGH WE DIDN'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS :(
4) (Grocery) Shopping @ Nagoya Shopping Mall (Pads are at only sgd2+/-, shampoos which watsons sell for $2 are only sgd0.80 there, plus all the tidbits damn cheap)
5) Go for a massage (Recommended - Isabella Massage House @ Nagoya hills) - We didn't have time for any massage though
6) Eat cheap seafood!!!
7) Have a picnic by the sea
8) Arcade @ Nagoya Shopping Mall - We didn't get to do this either mehz
THINGS TO EAT:
1) Harbourbay Seafood Restaurant
2) Golden Prawn Seafood Restaurant
3) A&W at Nagoya Shopping Mall
4) Ayam Penyat store at Nagoya Shoping Mall
5) Alfresco dinner at the bridge area of Turi
6) Room service
THINGS TO BUY:
1) Kueh Lapis (IT'S A MUST!) - The
place that we went to was recommended by our drivers. They will start
baking upon ordering. They accept sgd and of course, advisable to pay in
sgd. One box of kueh lapis (original flavor) costs sgd25.
2) Necessities @ Nagoya Hypermart
3) J Co. Donuts @ Nagoya Shopping Mall (I heard that it's cheaper, not v sure though)
THINGS TO NOTE:
1) It is cheaper to pay in sgd than in rupiahs after doing the math. We had too much rupiahs with us so we had no choice but to pay our watersports in rupiah which includes 21% Indonesia taxes. So i'd suggest changing just enough money for seafood & shopping @ Nagoya (Even the kueh lapis place accepts sgd)
2) Time difference between Indonesia and Singapore is an hour. Indonesia is an hour slower than Singapore so we kinda earn an extra hour when we headed over.
3) Ferry tickets can be bought online at BatamFast. It should cost sgd40+/- per pax inclusive of tax and fuel surcharges.
4) The yogupalz asked me why we are taking the ferry at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal and not the one at Harbourfront Ferry Terminal (since we are all westies and tanah merah is super far for us). Just to clarify in case anyone is wondering, the ferry at TM goes to Nongsa but the ferry at HF goes to another ferry terminal in Batam. Nongsa is nearer to Turi (& Montigo).
5) Also, i get questions as to how i get from Nongsa ferry terminal to the resort. There's shuttle service from the ferry terminal so no worries. The staffs from the different resorts at Nongsa will be there to fetch you over!
6) As to getting to Nagoya shopping mall and other places, a cab is required (just approach the reception of your resort). Getting to Nagoya shopping mall takes approx 30-45minutes. Anyway we booked the taxi uncle for 4 hours @ around sgd60. So basically he waited for us when we eat and all. Splitting the cab fare among 4 of us, we paid only sgd15 each (Wahlao from my house to changi airport already cost me almost sgd50 can).
***
Super duper lengthy post but i hope this helps! I'd alot of people asking me about Montigo previously because i wasn't clear in my post so i hope this is useful to whoever that is keen to head to Turi. It took me a couple of days to churn out this post (spent all my studying time here my god) :<
And i thought i should address this issue (again) as to why i'm traveling so much since the last half of the year. No, my parents do not finance any of my trips except for our family trip to Taiwan. I've mentioned before that i've been (more or less) financially independent since the age of 13 / 14. I do get allowance when i attend school and when it's holiday, i get zero. Which explains why i always work during the holidays. Of course, i'd alot of other expenses incurred as i grow older which explains why i teach so many tuitions and take up so many shifts at Yoguru. I'd to earn for the lifestyle i want to lead. I'd people asking me how much tuitions i actually teach a week. I'd 6 students and 8 tuition sessions a week so go do your own math. In any case, i'm taking this last chance to travel more since it's almost graduation and after being officially employed, i would be stuck in the workforce for a couple of years building up my career. So no, i don't have a good life it's just that i don't report all the times when i literally work like a dog. So... WORK HARD, SAVE HARD, PLAY HARD ^^ *inserts muscle emoticon*
Anyway, can't wait for my next beach getaway in August w my DB besties to Krabi \(*.*)/
