A 3D2N getaway at One of a Kind Resort in Bintan

I love our mum-and-kids vacations.

No, it's not that I don't love family holidays with the hubby around, of course I do. It's just that I also love short getaways where it's just me and the kids exploring new sights and trying out new experiences.

With the navy hubby's volatile working schedule, it's actually much easier for me to book a holiday with the kids alone. As it is expensive to travel with four kids, we usually limit it to a short stay in neighbouring countries only. Still better than nothing, right? I was thinking of where to bring the kids in November last year and since it was Angel's 15th birthday and she loves nature and beaches, I decided to bring the kids to a beach resort. After shortlisting and researching on several options in Batam, Bintan and JB, I settled on this one that really stood out with its name - One of a Kind Resort at Trikora Beach, Bintan.

Here's sharing all about our fun-filled 3D2N stay where we saw fireflies, snorkelled in the deep sea, went on a mangrove swamp tour, kayaked to an island, visited the beach, fed lots of animals and more.

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In the morning, we arrived at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal. Check out our mum-and-kids matching white tops and cargo pants? Yeah, I love it and it makes it easier for me to spot them in the crowd, haha.

We had a quick bite at the cafe and I also stopped by the money changer last minute to get some spare rupiah just in case.

Then it was time for us to board the ferry! I was still feeling 心有余悸 because the last we went on a mum-and-kids ferry ride, Ansel was seasick and puked big time over me and himself and it was a painful experience trying to soothe him and make him.feel better. This time, I told him to be prepared and if his stomach felt upset, we would dash to the toilet. I also made sure the vomit bags were easily within reach.

Well, maybe he grew strong or maybe the seas were not as turbulent this time round, he was fine and we didn't have to clear up any mess, woohoo!

I had arranged for a transfer to the resort so our driver was already waiting for us when we reached Bandar Bintan Telani Ferry Terminal. It was an hour's ride to the resort and we were all feeling happy and excited to see what lay ahead of us for the rest of the day.

Ta-dah, we have reached the resort! After completing the check-in process, we took the buggy to get to our villa. Yes, our very own villa for 3D2N! Let us show you what's inside.

The villa has storeys and on the first floor, there is living area complete with a TV, a sofa bed, a spacious porch with tables and chairs for dining, a toilet and a private plunge pool. Imagine the look of joy on the kids when they saw the pool!

On the second floor, you can find a huge bathroom with a bathtub and smart toilet bowl, a foyer with bench, wardrobe and mirror, a bedroom with a queen sized bed and a glass-bottomed balcony that overlooks the plunge pool. Cosy and beautiful!

What was our sleeping arrangement? Well, the staff helped us to shift the sofa bed upstairs and converted it into a bed on the floor. So two kids slept on that while the other two were with me on the queen bed. It was just nice for the five of us.

There are also two bicycles allocated to each villa so that guests can cycle around the gardenlike premises. The seats were initially too high for the kids but the staff helped us to make adjustments and Asher and Ariel could ride them comfortably, much to their delight.

So the first thing we did after settling down in our room was to explore! Since this was a leisure trip, I wanted to keep the pace relaxed and slow but anyway, we also ended up doing lots of activities within the short stay. Haha. I guess I just wanted to make the most of every moment and fully cherish this trip with my kids.

We took a walk in the surroundings to absorb the beauty of it all - the fountains, kois, boardwalk, lush greenery, blooms and more. Well, we even did an impromptu catwalk upon seeing a 'runway' and that had us in stitches. Watch the video below to find out more.

For lunch, we dined at Azura Bistro Resto which is one of the two restaurants here. Since Oceanhouse was closed, it meant that we had all our meals here but thank to the wide variety of Asian and Western cuisine, they were more than enough to fill our tummies.

In the late afternoon, it was time to see off for our first tour! We went on an interactive mangrove swamp tour where our guide gave us the chance to learn about interesting plants and touch and smell them, as well as took us to hunt for wildlife where we saw snakes, crabs and kingfishers.

The kids said sailing along the mangrove swamp felt like we were in a movie set and the beauty of it all was surreal. I soaked in the moment where it felt like it was just the kids and I and we were cut off from the real world and free of distraction for that couple of hours. 

While it was too cloudy to witness a magnificent sunset, we still caught the beautiful rays shining across the horizon and there was so much to appreciate and be thankful for.

Even though we were on the boat from when the sky was bright till when the night got totally dark, it was still not the end of the ride. In fact, we were only halfway there and the exciting part just began! Yes, we were going to continue with our journey by going for a Firefly Tour, woohoo!

The guide told us that if we were lucky, we might be able to see a crocodile or two and lo and behold, the kids were hoping to see one so badly and were elated when it actually came true. Can you spot it below?

As for the fireflies, we don't have any pictures to show because it was pitch black and my phone was not able to capture anything. But it was the best firefly tour we had even been on because we saw hundreds of them, caught at least a dozen in our hands, felt them crawling across our fingers and were blown away by the sheer beauty and fascinating nature of these pretty creatures. It was simply breathtaking and just too good to be true.

After we disembarked from the boat, the kids were thrilled to get the chance to carry and cuddle the cute kittens and cats that belonged to our guide's family.  While I'm more of a dog lover, my kids love cats and the short interaction they had with these cuties made them happy and brought smiles on their faces.

After the tour, we returned to the villa and stopped by the restaurant to get dinner on the way. A brilliant idea struck me and I asked the staff if it was possible to send the food to our villa and let us dine in. They said "Of course!" and so after ordering the food, we made our way back and I asked the kids "Do you all want go into the pool?" Three of them eagerly said yes and so they changed into their swimsuits and hopped in.

Even though it was cold, they still had fun as they played together. The two older ones would do stunts like spinning jumps into the pool and they competed with the youngest and would purposely let him win which made him the happiest kid in the world. On the other hand, the oldest chose to have some me-time on her iPad which was cool with me and when the food came, we enjoyed a hearty meal together while watching TV. I enjoyed my tom yum soup which the kids' favourite was the nachos.

On the second day, we woke up and made our way to the restaurant to enjoy a buffet breakfast. The food was decent and the variety was quite good too - the kids enjoyed the donuts, waffles, pancakes, freshly cooked omelettes and sunny side ups,  cereal and fresh fruits.

Since we didn't intend to go out, we roamed around the premises, checked out the swimming pool and the kids took the chance to go cycling. Like I said, I wanted the trip to be a leisure, happy trip for everyone so I tried my best to listen to their wants and make them come true. So when they said they wanted to go to the beach, we went back to our villa to get our beach toys, nets and buckets and off we went.

The good thing was the beach was just a short walking distance away and we could get there easily on foot. While the older kids armed themselves with a net each to try to catch some fish, Ansel and I set up our mat and started to build sandcastles.

We also ate some biscuits and snacks that we had brought along before taking turns to fly our kite. It was such a sunny but wonderful afternoon that we spent here and the memories made were priceless.

We then made our way for the second tour of our trip and this was the Snorkelling Tour. I had checked with the resort staff on whether the kids could try it out and except for Ansel who was too young, all the rest could and they were thrilled to hear that because they had never snorkelled before (except for Angel who tried it once at Adventure Cove). Since they said Ansel and I could tag along even if we didn't snorkel, we decided to go ahead with it.

After taking a car to the jetty, we got onto a boat which brought us to Bintan Neemo and I have to say that this tour totally exceeded our expectations. Besides the picturesque scenery, we also did other activities which were fun and memorable too.

Firstly, the snorkelling was an amazing experience for the kids and they were guided by the kind and patient staff who also took videos of them interacting with corals, clownfish and more (check out the footage in our video below). These were given to us at no extra cost which totally took me by surprise. 

When they asked the kids if they wanted to 'jump', they gamely said yes without knowing what it actually meant. So when the kids were told to make their way to a high, standing platform in the middle of the sea and then just jump off from the ledge, you bet they hesitated. It doesn't look that high from far but I can assure you that it is intimidating when you are standing right there right then and told to jump forward.

The thing is, while the kids deliberated for a while - some more than the rest - when they were at the top, they ended doing it - Yes, all three of them! I was so proud to see them doing it and Ansel and I clapped and cheered loudly for them. These precious moment were also captured on film and I was so thankful for that.

We also saw kayaks and when I asked the staff if we could try kayaking, they said "Sure!" and so we took two kayaks and started to make our way to an island. The good thing was they were quite lenient and flexible when it came to small kids and they allowed Ansel to sit in between me and Asher, yay! So the five of us climbed onboard and started to paddle.

It was such a nice, tranquil and gorgeous afternoon and the weather was just perfect. The scenery was dreamy and guess what, we ended up getting off at the island and had it all to ourselves because there was no one else there! The kids had fun exploring, finding sea creatures, picking beautiful seashells, strolling around and just enjoying the warm sun rays. 

I remember that I wanted to take a family picture to remember this perfect afternoon and so I used a box as a stand and filled up a plastic bottle as a support for my phone. No filters were needed to make it look nicer and no words were needed to describe that pure feeling of bliss I felt deep in my heart.

In addition, the kids also got to feed the fishes with bread which were rolled into ball shapes and it was nice to feel their nibbles against our fingers. We also tried our luck at fishing even though we we were it would be hard and yup, we ended up with nothing but it was still fun casting the rod and reel in the fishing line over and over again.

Before we left, we took some really nice solo shots against the sunset as we sat on this net that made the perfect photo spot. 

Ansel was scared to sit on the net so we found an alternative photo spot for him and I loved seeing his huge smiles. I asked him if he was bored because he didn't get to snorkel but he said he was happy and it was fun feeding the fishes and kayaking with us. Awww. You will get the chance to try out more new things as you get bigger too, I promise, my love.

Since we were all dressed in our swimwear already, we decided to jump into the common pool the moment we got back to the resort. It was a beautiful pool surrounded by comfy loungers and the kids loved it so much that we stayed here for hours. The kids raced, they played ball and also hid items for the rest to find.

My hope is that they will always stay close to each other and not drift too far apart even when they have all settled down in life. Sibling bonds are forever and never forget to show love and care for each other, okay?

Back in our villa, we decided to order room service once more so that we could spend a relaxed night eating, soaking in the bathtub, watching TV, feeding the cats and watching a movie night. That night, we caught Geostorm starring Gerard Butler and it again reminded me of how thankful I am for our family movie nights which keep us happy, entertained and bonded.

Fun times are always short lasting and before we knew it, it was soon time to check out of the resort. Well, that was after we spent a nice morning having breakfast in bed (the kids were so happy to do this since this is not allowed in our home, haha) and watching yet another show and this time, we chose an animated film named Spellbound which was about a girl saving her parents who turned into monsters and it was an enjoyable eat-as-you-watch session.

I had planned for some time to spare after checking out and before heading to the ferry terminal so we booked a taxi to take us to one of our favourite places in Bintan - Safari Lagoi. We have been here a few times already and the last was when we had a mum-and-kids trip to Club Med Bintan. Even so, the kids still love every visit very much because they get to see and feed lots of animals including rabbits, deer, fishes, elephants, birds and crocodiles.

It felt like a reunion when we met Emma once more as she was the elephant we fed and took photos with the last we visited. Awwww, we were so happy to get to pat her and give her bananas once more. Some might say it seems cruel for elephants to be kept in zoos but here in Safari Lagoi, the elephants have lots of space to roam around and they are well-fed and happy too. We asked about the chain on Emma's leg and were told this was for safety purpose only during guest visits and since the timings are kept short and limited, Emma would then be free to return to the jungle to join her other pals.

We didn't see a real komodo dragon this time round but this iconic statue is where the kids would always climb on to take a shot. It's kind of bittersweet to look back on photos and realise how time flies and how fast these kids are growing up.

Since we had ample time, we didn't have to rush but instead could let the kids take time to explore and do the things they wanted. 

If they wanted to stay at the pond and feed the fishes longer, we did. If they wanted to return back to the rabbits' enclosure and cuddle them a few more times before we left, we did. If they wanted to go feed the deer or see the sun bears, we did. 

As we bade farewell and exited the safari, our driver was so kind as to ask if we wanted to take some shorts with these majestic-looking orangutan sculptures and this was the first time we stopped by the road just to do so.

This trip has been nothing short of rejuvenating, fun and memorable and as we enjoyed a cold ice cream treat at the ferry terminal, my heart was warm and filled with lots of gratitude. I am so, so glad that we made it for this mum-and-kids trip, experienced a few firsts and did so many fun-filled activities. 

Another drawerful of precious moments to keep in my memory bank. Till our next holiday!

P.S.: Happy sweet 15th, Angel! This trip was booked with your birthday in mind and even though I know you don't need a fanciful celebration anymore, I still hope you had lots of fun and enjoyed all the outdoor activities and opportunities to connect with mother nature. Love you lots!

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Here's a video showcasing all the highlights from this trip, these compilation videos are so precious to me and the kids and I love seeing them over and over again to remember those fond, fun-filled moments. Enjoy watching!