Recap:
5 bloggers, 1 Tiger Beer winner with his 13 friends, APB Staff and some media friends went on a 3D2N Nikoi Island Getaway, FULLY sponsored by Asia Pacific Breweries!
It was the most awesome urban escape anyone can dream of, slow-pace, mind calming.
I wish I never had to come back. Life on the island is so simple and lay-back. I have all my meals on time, plenty of exercise (the only way to travel from one place to another is by walking on foot). Best of all, there's wi-fi! So technically speaking, we did not lose touch of the 'outside world'.
Left to right: Me, Shawn(top), Calvin Timothy(yellow shirt), William(in Cap), Yongwei(black shirt)
There was a slight drizzle on Day 1 so we stayed in the villa, played monopoly deal, caught some hermit crabs, picked some shells and had a night party at the clubhouse. We called it a day rather early to catch the sunrise the next day.
Now I know who actually helped me carried my luggage. Thanks Alfred! All this while I thought it was a bell-boy who did it when my luggage miraculously appeared in the house.
Told you about the fridge which is ALWAYS full of Tiger Beer, didn't I?
*auto-refill*
I couldn't sleep all night thinking if there would be pirates(the guys were telling me bedtime stories about pirates). It turned out that the island is really very safe. The director had told the media about the island's close relationship with the Indonesian Coastal police.
I was awoken by a boat at 4am, which turns out to be ferrying food supplies to the island, and not pirates. Oh come on, I was all alone in my room, freaked out by the total sea darkness in front of me.
Which girl wouldn't be?
After tossing and turning of what seems like forever, I caught sight of the first glimpse of brightness. First up for my wash-up, then went on to wake the guys up. We stood in front of our villa to see the sunrise. As it turned out, sunrise is on the OTHER SIDE of the island.
Oh. Crap.
Well anyway, William managed to brighten up my day with a pretty necklace he'd bought from his previous Japan trip.
Nikoi Island Day 2
Love their Menus!
Yongwei's ultimate Breakfast Combo.
We spent the entire morning on the sunny beach, kayaking, swimming, tanning, cam-whoring and headed for lunch. No one did that but you can actually go snorkeling too! All water activities are FREE-OF-CHARGE, except for sailing.
Kayaking around the island takes about 1 to 2 hours if you want. A guide will follow you.
Remember to apply sun block!
I'm using Kinohitmitsu Sunblock lotion.
Shawn drew a traditional chinese character, 'Long', which means 'Dragon' on my back. It's supposed to my 'tattoo'. Fierce right.
The campfire site is ready for tonight's campfire.
Yongwei, you're supposed to be sitting UPRIGHT in order to row your boat. =.="
Calvin Timo and I had a double-kayak.
What were we laughing about?
The water was freezing cold!
The rest of the group joining in the fun.
LUNCH!
I'm in love with their pastry chef. Looking forward to their desserts at every meal.
Whatsapp-ing my dear boy back in Singapore just before every meal. Wi-Fi rocks! :)
Yongwei found a new hobby.
After lunch, the new-found group headed to the poolside, the OTHER SIDE of the island where we can see the sunrise. (now I know).
The other side of the island is more rocky, you can't swim out to sea but you can discover lots of turtle nests!
While walking to the poolside we continued to cam-whore.
Tide's coming in.
Chris, please don't throw your ball at me. I'm holding the camera.
Look behind Shawn, what's Yongwei doing?!
What's Yongwei doing this whole time?
When you're at a swimming pool on a private island, you can do ALMOST anything you want. Like jumping into the pool so that the pool water splashes into your drink.
The rest of us curiously learning about turtle and their nests, & how to protect them.
Two types of turtles comes to Nikoi Island to lay eggs: Horn-bill turtle & the Green turtle. Turtles are amazing animals. They will come back to where they were hatched, in order to lay eggs. To do that, these turtles will swim back from the other side of Earth. Ultimately, only 1% or less of these hatchlings will survive out in the open sea. Most of them are eaten by predators like moniter lizards and eagles.
The hatchlings in this nest are supposed to hatch but they didn't. It's most probably because the temperature in the nest wasn't right. The mommy turtles spends about 3-4 hours digging her nest and buries her eggs about 1-metre deep into the sand. The net is wrapped around the nest so that the monitor lizards are not able to dig up and eat the eggs.
Our Turtle Heroes on Nikoi Island.
Before long, the sun began to set... Shawn, William, Calvin and I headed to the jetty for sunset shots before heading to the restaurant for dinner.
Shawn picking seashells.
I took this photo with my S95, nice?
i really love this photo very much. It's very 'kampong'.
DINNER TIME!
Brownie with ice-cream for dessert.
You Like ah? (Inside Joke)
Campfire commence! Let the party begin!
Look how close we are to the fireworks!
The guys went night-hunting and found this:
We celebrated Kim's brithday too! The staff were so friendly, they baked and even sang their native birthday song for her.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIM!
The party didn't stop there. Alfred got DJ Shaun to come to our villa and spin for us until 3am before we call it a day!
Nikoi Island Day 3
We missed the sunset again and only managed to wake up at 8plus the next morning.
Why is everyone running like mad???
Rewind to 8am on Day 3.
Good morning Everybody!
Breakfast was WOHOOOly delicious, as usual!
Nikoi staff improvised and did pretty decorations to the dining area.
After breakfast, the bloggers headed back to the Villa for a video shoot for APB. We haven't really began when the Turtle hero budged into the house screaming in between puffs and pants, "Baby turtles from another nest has hatched! Come Villa 15 and see!"
Seriously, Villa 15 is a good 15-minute walk from our villa! We had to dash because the hatchlings can't wait for long. They need to be in water.
There they are, all 144 of them, hatched less than 30minutes ago, taking baby steps to find their mommies out at sea. The thing about them is, these babies wad, non-stop, even out at sea, until they get to their final destination.
I am so touched by this moment.
These hatchlings are so strong-willed, fighting for survival yet helpless to natural circumstances. They are so tiny but the sea is so big and dangerous to be in! I wish I can help these babies, but nature has it that they must be left to fend on their own so that they know their way back to Nikoi Island someday.
BYE BYE BABIES!!!
Come back soon!
The trails they left behind.
This man, Gordon, is the father of these turtles.
His job is to look after these endangered turtles on the island. In order to do that, he told me that his director even invited a professional who studies about these turtle species to come to the island and educates Gordon.
The turtle shell which smells too rich in proteins. OPS.
I can watch this millions of times:
The hatchlings video recorded by Midlifecrisis Productions.
A last group photo of Villa 6 before heading back home.
Can I stay, please?
And we're back in Singapore for our first buggy-ride in DAYS.
Cheers to APB!
Awesome photo credits: William Tan
Here's a VIDEO of our 3D2N Nikoi Trip from APB.
I MISS NIKOI ISLAND TTM!
Read about Nikoi Island Day 1.
See more photos on Mint's Facebook Page Album: Nikoi Day 2, Nikoi Day 3.
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