Very rainy day to the last day of the year. Too wet for a round of tennis, so we just lounged on the couch pretty much all day, reading and watching some telly, and reflecting on the past 12 months.
With borders finally fully open, we had a fantastic year of travels. Thankful that I was able to work remotely, so we could have spent as much time abroad as we did – in Bali, New York, and Phuket.
Besides the travels abroad, we also had plenty of quieter but no less fun moments back home not pictured above. Long languid evenings catching up with old friends and family, over wine and cocktails, that make me immensely grateful for the friendships through the years. Especially as we look towards up rooting ourselves again next year.
Here’s to a 2023 well spent. And here’s to 2024, to good health and new adventures.
A couple of weeks ago, some friends put together a private KayakAsia kayak trip to the wild coast of northern Bintan, an Indonesian island just an hour’s ferry ride from Singapore.
After a carb-filled lunch, our group of 21 set off, initially with the wind. Good thing we were in the stable inflatable kayaks, because the surf and the winds were pretty darn strong; and even then, a couple folks capsized.
Then the winds turned against us, and it started to get very tiresome trying to steer. And the tides started to go down, so by the time we were a couple of kilometers away from our resort, the water had receded such that we had to get out to portage the last leg.
By then, we were hungry and thirsty (for ice cold gin and tonic that we’d lugged from Singapore). At least we were afforded a gorgeous sunset as we pulled our kayaks up the beach, 21km later.
Our final destination was the lovely and intimate Roka Resort that had opened during the pandemic. It has only 12 rooms, so our group booked out the entire place. For dinner though, our guide Huey arranged a BBQ banquet at the nearby village, to support the villagers. They spoiled us with a veritable feast.
Afterwards, we retired back to our resort, lounging by on the water and knocking back the bottles of gin, wine, and beers that we’d brought, and admiring the starry night sky. It was dark enough to make out the milky way above.
Next morning, Ling led a few of us through a light session of Pilates by the pool, to stretch out the sore muscles.
After breakfast, only half of us elected to get back out on the water for another paddle; the rest opted to lounge poolside to polish off the last of our alcohol, since we couldn’t bring it back into Singapore. Jing got out her drone for some lovely shots.
Happily, the tide was in as we got ready to get out, so we could launch right off the beach from our resort. Even more happily, the insane winds from the day before had died, so it was a most relaxing paddle to a couple of close-by islands where we enjoyed crystal clear waters.
Short but really fun weekend trip. Next time though, everyone agreed, maybe we should aim for 2 nights, so we have more time drinking and relaxing at the resort. Haha. And we’d better time our paddles such that we only go out during the high tides.
ptanphoto 
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