View of Sentosa from a Cable Car. 

An evening shot from the Raffles hotel courtyard. 

I met my Godmother's daughter, Shannon, for drinks when she was also in Singapore for business. I can't decide if I should call her my cousin (which seems easiest), my Godsister, or my friend (which seems most logical!). 

More stunts in Chinatown. 

Acrobats in Chinatown. 

Strolling in Chinatown. 

I am not sure what this sign is trying to warn people of. Tripping over chains? Or is it aimed at people with strange genetalia? 

Here is a better photo of the east beaches of Bintan. Beautiful, and completely abandoned. Paradise Found! 

Here is the fishing village near the Deserted Hotel. Obviously, the tide was out. Unfortunately for us, the tide was WAAAAAY out. It looked like there were people walking the mud flats some two miles out. This was the fresh catch of the day featured at the restaurant in the above village. 

This was the veiw from our teak balcony at the Deserted Hotel. Did I mention we were the only guests? We walked to a fishing village nearby for food, because the hotel had none.  

This is a shot of the Deserted Hotel. Zaime brought us to this hotel on the east side, north of Kilan. This used to be a heavily used destination for locals and Singaporeans, but the developments on the north side of the island have diverted all of the tourist flow.  

At one point when we were near Kilan, on the east side of Bintan, at a deserted hotel, we decided to walk back to the main highway and try our hand a hitching. There weren't many opportunities to hop on a truck, but we were offered several ojeck or cycle rides. One came from our new friend Moh'med, who wanted to take photos with us and chat a while. The temp was near 100F, and I was vermillion and soaked with sweat. Matt doesn't sweat. At any rate, Moh'med was proud to wear his leather Honda jacket to protect him from flying insects on the road. 

Matt had a good long chat with mom at the little cabana we had at Mana Mana. These were really nice little cabins with great views, but Matt brought his own hammock. 

This is our Bintan, Indonesia "fixer", Zamie. He can do anything. I met him on a previous trip to the island, when he arranged a cab and we spent a day driving through several kampungs. I especially liked the east side of the island. The north end is basically Singapore's back yard....all resorts, all expats or Singaporeans, none of it really Indonesian. Zaime showed me the real Indonesia of Bintan, and it was a wonderful experience. So this weekend, when Matt and I were en route to Bintan via a ferry (which stalled out and floated a few times), we phoned up Zaime to invite him for coffee. We went to a small shop near the mayor's office in Tangung Pinang. The local drum corps were presenting for the office, and it was a fantastic touch to kopi jaha, or ginseng coffee.

Matt and I were just too fast for time on this one. Dinner at Bintan Mana Mana beach club over Labor Day weekend.