This vacation began as a five day trip, and unexpectedly turned into a twelve day trip (more on that to come). So, this will be a several part blog.
The plane safety brochure is such interesting reading material!
Another awesome view of Mt. Fuji! 
We took the military Space “A”(available) plane to Singapore, as our jumping off point to Indonesia. The challenging part, is that you cannot really book hotel reservations, etc. until you land in Singapore in case something happens and you do not get on the flight.
When we landed in Singapore, we took an hour long ferry ride to Batam, Indonesia. Now, let the fun begin. Haha! When we arrived at the ferry terminal it was dark and we still didn’t have lodging. There was a hotel reservation kiosk at the terminal, but the language barrier was HUGE! Anyway, after 45 minutes trying to understand the reservation agent, and vice versa, I was finally able to find wi-fi and we booked our own rooms! The 50 minute cab ride (but only $10 US) to the hotel made me realize what the term “wing and a prayer” means! The cab had no seat belts, no head rests and we later determined the man didn’t even have his lights on! Not to mention the fact that there seems to be no traffic rules whatsoever. Exciting! The hotel itself was a nice surprise. There was a lovely open air lobby.
The staff brought us a chilled ginger drink. It was sweet initially with a really spicy aftertaste. Interesting. 
The rooms were adequate. We were just happy to have them! (As a side note, one room that sleeps four people, is difficult to find in Asia.)
This was a welcome sight to wake up to! 
This hotel is tiered so that every room faces the ocean. 
The beautiful, calm sunrise. 
Most of the common areas did not have walls. This is the restaurant. 
The breakfast buffet had a very large selection, however, most of it was not what I would choose! (It is very hard to get pork bacon anywhere in Asia, especially in the heavily Muslim countries. And I’m sorry, but chicken sausage and chicken ham….or fish ball, are poor replacements!)
We headed down to the beach after breakfast. One big drawback- since Singapore is the second largest shipping hub in the world, tar/oil would wash up on the shore and get all over everything! So, not the best beach for swimming, we soon found out. 
My good-time gal!
Trying to dodge the tar balls!
Some R&R for me.
The pool was nice, though, so we spent most of the day there. 
I actually did enjoy watching the ships pass. 
The beach was nice for strolling, though. 
We looked, but did not see any monkeys. 
This was the hotel’s second pool. 
Room with a view.
We had some good Indonesian food for dinner. 
But, Eva chose the hamburger and fries! This fair child was not made to spend an entire day at the beach. She got really sunburned, despite the sunscreen.
A pretty relaxing day overall. 
