We had company for 4 days. John and Dixie, ski buddies from Silver Star, who live in Brockville, retired teacher and retired nurse. Every two years they take a big trip. To SE Asia. This year Vietnam and Bali . They factored in a visit to us in between. They had been to Singapore before and had seen a lot of the sights.
So I took them to the recently opened Garden By The Bay. It really is phenomenal. The government wanted to have, available to anyone, an oasis of green in the heart of the city. So free to all, an amazing garden; plants, trees, outdoor art from all over the world. Then you pay to go in two greenhouses- HUGE greenhouses- one plants and flowers from countries with similar climate; Mexico, Africa, Central America. Beautiful specimens. And a cloud garden, misted, with a 5 story waterfall, and plants that grow in heavy jungle environment. It is breathtaking. Singapore really does "big" well. It is wonderful.
We went to The Affordable Art Fair. Artists, and art galleries, from around the world, come and show art between $100 and $10,000. A huge pavilion showed thousands of pieces of just amazing art. So varied, so creative, so good, and so many. I wish that I were rich so I could buy some of the incredible art. But then we would have to buy some empty walls to display it. Hmmm......
Tim and I then went to Nikoi for 5 days. Nikoi Island is in the South China Sea, off the east coast of Bintam, which is an island just east of Singapore. By the way, I thought Singapore was the tip of the Malaysian Peninsula, but it is an island at the tip of the Malaysian peninsula. OOPS. I just learned that.
Gordie Wade recommended we look into Nikoi. He had heard about it when he was travelling to Singapore on business. It is only 5 years old. Some business men bought this island and built a weekend getaway from Singapore. It has morphed in to a very select hotel resort.
A small island, surrounded by fine white coral powder sand. A hill in the middle that is heavy jungle, and little villas dotted along the shore. It is like very fancy camping. Your own "cabin" in the woods, down a sand path in the jungle. A house, with a ground floor open living space, open walls to the views, and upstairs a bedroom with open walls. A mosquito net keeps you from being eaten alive. Actually I didn't get one bite the 4 days there. They are very careful about the mosquitoes, but not with fogging. They plant lemon grass along all the paths, light coils under our beds at night. We used bug juice in the evening for dinner.
They offer prescribed meals at prescribed times. They post the menu the day before, and ask if any problems with what is being served. Prawns, red snapper, tenderloin, chicken. Not fine dining, but good food, fresh, and determined by what is fresh and available at the market. We were very happy with the food. Nice small servings, and a delicious dessert with lunch and dinner. They have a dining area for adults, and a dining area for families with kids. And that is a good thing!
They are making the smallest footprint possible. The buildings are built of wood washed up on the shore. They collect their rain water, compost waste, no AC but ceiling fans, torches to light the paths at night, no tv or phones.
But this makes no sense to me. We were 1' from the equator and yet the sea water was cooler, and the air temp more moderate than here in Singapore. Go figure! I was lucky, it was overcast ( we are in monsoon season) because I forgot my sunglasses. And we had a ripper of a storm go through as we were packing out of our cabin. It passed through and that is a good thing because we had a boat ride to get home just hours later.
At mealtime, they have swept the dining room floor (beautiful white sand) into gorgeous designs. The toilet is in the middle of the bathroom, and the tp hangs by chains from the ceiling! In front of our cabin, we had a giant sand lawn with a bed on a swing, a big lounger under a shade grass roof, and steps to the ocean. It really was lovely. Very different to any other paradise we have visited here. We are collecting paradises like hockey cards!?
We took a hike to the back of the island (to another bar and several pools) and took a path over the hill. Very steep, wet and slippery in sandals. But I felt like Jane looking for my Tarzan. HA There are resident lizards. I think they are called monitor lizards. We had sightings of some about 12-18" long. And then one day I stepped out of our cabin to be staring at the big daddy. I do not exaggerate- 6 feet long. He kindly posed for a picture, (I had to run back for my phone) and then he slithered off in to the jungle. Whooppee.
Tim was fascinated talking to two fellows who work there. One guy is studying the mosquitoes, tracking what genus, where they feed, where their habitat, to deal with them naturally. He puts empty coconut with some water in them to collect larvae to study them. The another guy, the handyman, who has to fix things that need fixing without the support of the DIY store down the road.
I am going on, and not beginning to do justice to this holiday. It was a wonderful experience, and I hope to talk the kids into a few days there when they come in January. It is truly unique. Thank you Gordie for the great recommendation.
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