Blue Mountain Kelong - a true getaway

walkway to the island

taken from our balcony - must be the 'blue mountain'

I said to my kids, "one day you will be in a place that is trying to imitate this, but this one is the real thing."  We spent the long easter weekend at the Blue Mountain Kelong.  Kelong is a Malay term for a wood house built on stilts.  A co-worker of mine recommended this place to me for a quick getaway from Singapore, and I'm really glad he did.  I have to say I have never been to such a rustic 'hotel', and it turned out to be a really beautiful, relaxed, special weekend for my entire family.  I was a bit nervous with the basic accommodation - no a/c, no hot water and toilets that flush into the sea, no modern amenities.   It's not the most private rooms - the walls don't actually go all the way up to the ceiling, so you can hear people talk, snore, whatever.  That was not my favorite part.  The sun is upa t six and so are the guests - definitely the small children, and you can hear them.  But all in all it was amazing.  The staff is great - really caring and accommodating.

the kitchen

How did we get there?  Ferry (about an hour) to the Indonesian island of Batam - there we were picked up by a van and we crossed Batam to the domestic ferry where we, along with 2 other families, boarded a charter speedboat about 1/2 hour til we reached the kelong.  Home sweet home.  The hotel takes care of all of the transportation, lodging and food.
The best part of the experience - the view?  The people?  Getting away from it all?  Hard to say - all of the above.  My kids had the best time swimming in the ocean, touching sea cucumbers, trying to fish (didn't catch much), playing board games and lazing in the hammock. They made friends with other kids there as we made enjoyed chatting with their parents.  Most of the clientele is from Singapore.  About 30 people fit comfortably at one time at the hotel.  One evening while my husband and I were talking to some of the other guests, our 3 kids went to the room to play games.  I went to the room to check on them and I saw some small shoes by the door - when I went in I found not only my kids but the 3 little boys from another family.  My 12-year-old reassured me 'mom it's ok; their parents know they are here."  So I left them all playing.

Meals are cooked by the staff and served family style.  The food is local - based on seafood, rice, veggies and papaya from the kelong's garden nearby.  They serve breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner.  Snack was fried bananas one day and the next day a local sweet green bean soup.  Each meal was excellent.

My husband and I both enjoyed massage for SGD15/hour (about US$10).  I had 2 massages during my 3 days.  I already regret not having more!  Maybe my favorite moment was getting a massage in one of the wood rooms, seeing the sea through the plank floor and hearing the water when all of a sudden it started to rain - really rain - and the experience was enhanced by the breeze and the sound of the storm.

I chose to hang at the kelong while my family joined a guide and several other guests on a 'jungle trek' on the island. Turned out to be a little more difficult than they thought.  My seven-year-old came back crying and limping, showing me the scrape on her leg.  The boys had a ball.  Another day they took us and another family to a nice beach about a 20-minute boat ride away.  Found amazing shells and played in and out of the water for about an hour.

Every night at 10 pm they raise the trawler net and see what is in there - one night it was some squid which the kitchen staff cut up and served 'sashimi style' with soy sauce.  I did not partake but my husband and son did along with many other guests.  They all loved it.

All in all this was really a fabulous weekend.  It's not for everyone, that's for sure, but if you are located in Singapore and are looking for a quiet, nature-oriented weekend to 'chillax', check out the blue mountain kelong.

one of 2 tables in the dining area

view of the kelong from the water

the coast near the kelong - a fisherman lives in that house.

  

example of one of the meals - fried shrimp, veggies, jackfruit green curry, chicken wings, red chicken curry, white rice and tofu with onions.  all you can eat.  beverage choices - water, coke, carlsberg beer.

our room - 3 of the 5 beds.  very comfy! all local wood.

the famous potty that flushes into the sea - shower is also there - not hot water but you don't miss it.

example of the walkway - - - roof made of palm fronds - everything made of local wood.  You can see the island in the background.  Few people live there.

map in the kelong showing its location - see Singapore?  

the stilts (and I guess the "plumbing"?)

bright bright moon - beautiful.

so much to do in the mall without actually shopping! Orchard Gateway

On Saturday, I spent a few hours at Orchard Gateway mall; the reason for that particular mall was that it is next to - attached to - the mall where I had an appointment for my haircut at 3 pm, so we (sort of ) made an afternoon of it and managed to do quite a few things that don't count as actually shopping.

My husband, three kids and I took a taxi from our apartment to the mall.  Ok technically we could walk but it's definitely a schlep and, as always, it was blazing hot so that was that.  Then it took some convincing to get my husband to cheerfully agree to take a taxi when we also could take a bus. Thing is, the bus is a few minutes' walk and it goes in sort of a roundabout way to get there, and it's about 80 cents per person.  The taxi, door-to-door, was $6.00 so.... taxi it is.

First stop was to my guilty pleasure - Korean fried chicken at a place called four fingers.  If you like fried chicken you should really try the Korean variety.  It's magical.

After lunch we bid adieu to my husband and two smaller children and my almost-13-year-old and I headed to the library that is, of course, in the mall (genius! see older blog post all about that library branch) but the best part is that my son had put a few books on hold, and the system go retrieve them  is totally automated.

you scan your card and it shows the books you have on hold

it warns you to stand back...

shows you which locker will open...

the locker lights up....

and... voila! there's your book.  extremely cool library experience.

Then, after my haircut, I met up with my son again.  We went down to the B1 level which is sort of Japanese-themed. We got ice cream cones at a place called 'Maccha house".  One day I'm gonna sit there and have some real food!  Check it out:

menu Maccha House.

My seriously green green tea ice cream cone

display case of at Maccha House

Now... also at B1 is a big story called Tokyo Hands; it's a Japanese store that has so many cool things, from pens, stickers, makeup, kitchen stuff to great backpacks and wallets.  Really fun store to browse.  Today I 'browsed' the Japanese lunchmaking accessories.  I had heard - on NPR nonetheless - that in Japan the parents make elaborate lunches for their kids to take to school.  At Tokyo Hands I saw all these cool gadgets to make fun seaweed-rice balls and they also sell stamps for sausages.

All in all a fun time at Orchard Gateway mall!

to make cute panda seaweed rice things

happy face rice stamps

  

sausage stamps!!

A day in the heartland of Singapore - Toa Payoh

I am lucky to live in the central area of Singapore, about a ten minute walk from the famous Orchard Road.  But the truth is most of Singapore's 5 million inhabitants live scattered throughout the island, well-connected to the central areas.  Yesterday my family and I went to explore one of the 'heartland' areas of Singapore - Toa Payoh, one of the first residential communities in Singapore.  One of those days where I was in charge of the plan.

What drew me to spend the afternoon in Toa Payoh?  The answer to that is the Dragon Playground.  I had read about this playground structure in several blogs and websites, and I happen to have a seven and nine-year old who absolutely adore good old-fashioned playgrounds, so the plan was made.

Once I started digging around about what else there was to do in Toa Payoh, I found another cool playground and a Chinese Monastery.  Now we're talking!  The weather cooperated, which is never a given in Singapore, so after lunchtime off we went on the #5 bus heading north for about 20 minutes.

The Dragon Playground was ok - iconic but it was the only thing to climb in the small area, so it was a bit underwhelming.  Soon thereafter we headed over to the Toa Payoh Sensory Park - like a glorified playground surrounded by the typical Singapore HDB government housing. The kids had a ball.  Adjacent to that park was a great food center - on the famous 'hawker centers' so we each got our favorite fresh juice (mine is "ABC" - Apple, Beet, Carrot - juiced fresh for a whopping $2.50) - found one more playground for good measure and then meandered through a maze of HDBs until reaching the pedestrian gate to the Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery, where we were lucky enough to witness the end of a ceremony.  Beautiful place where the kids each carefully lit an incense stick.  I would have stayed much longer but we were already there past the 5 pm closing time.

Next family day one of the kids chooses the plan - let's see what they pick.

Dragon from Dragon Playground Toa Payoh

the kids climb 'in' the dragon

service in session at the temple

hello little cool statue!!

when the wind blows you can hear the bells ring

incense - always smells so good at Chinese temples!

Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery