Trip Report: Bintan Day 2


At 4am, the cockerels started crowing. Gosh the last time when I heard cockerels crowing while asleep was in 1968, when I went to this kampong at Telok Blangah (where the Tikong Beo is now) to study for my O level! (^^) By 6.45am, I could not sleep further. So, I decided to get up and take another cold bath! Slowly, one by one got up and then sat on the verandah and watch the morning lazily. Tim and Gloria were already out on the shore when it was still start, and now they appeared from the mangroves. 8am and it was time for breakfast.

So, we gathered around under the same attap shade for breakfast. Breakfast was standard and so we did not have to think what to have for breakfast. It was pancake ala Trikora (^^). We had no idea how to prepare our final breakfast but had to wait for Gilles to demonstrate. The ingredients or the parts of the breakfast — 2 pancakes, a comb of bananas, sliced lime, white sugar, condensed milk, grated coconut and cinnamon powder. And here was how Gilles did it:

1.       Open the pancake

2.       Cut the banana into small pieces and place on one side of the pancake

3.       Sprinkle some white sugar on the other side of the pancake

4.       Squeeze some lime onto the white sugar to melt them

5.       Pour a little condensed milk over the bananas

6.       Sprinkle some cinnamon powder over the bananas

7.       Fold back the pancake

And we were ready to eat. The taste was quite unique, enjoyable indeed! (^^) We sat, chat, with more crazy ideas spewing forth, led by CW. It was 9am when Tim and Gloria went for their massage and we strayed back to the big house to relax and chat some more. How time flew by. It was already 10am and it was time to get packed. At 11am, two kijang (vans) arrived, one to take Tim and Gloria straight to Tanjong Pinang where they had to go home. Another took us to the “Kelong” where we had our lunch. It was like just after breakfast but we tucked in our lunch of prawns, kangkong, deep fried sotong (cuttlefish), sambal sotong, omelette (I think) and kalian as well.

We took a walk along the long walkway right into the sea where more houses were standing. Many Singaporeans came here to stay and fish (within the fenced in part of waters) or take boats out to the sea to catch bigger fishes. Gilles showed us the little shrine in which Mazu sat. We paid our respects, took photos and came back for lunch.

It  was already drizzling, but we decided that we must visit the small temple nearby. There was no one in the temple but like in Singapore, the necessary joss sticks and joss papers were there for anyone to take (drop some money into the donation box) and use. It was the temple dedicated to Tua Pek Kong. Interestingly, on the side was a frame with red paper inside with words indicating Nan Hai Guan Yin and Hai Long Niang Niang. Who is Hai Long Niang Niang

On the way from the restaurant to the temple, some of our guys poked their nose into one of the household watching the lady making chang (dumping) and were rewarded with cute little gi-chang (plain glutinous rice with gi — that English word for this escaped me, it was mentioned before).

And then, we were on our way again, to the next temple, a Buddhist one this time. Time’s up to go to bed and I shall continue my story tomorrow. (^^)(IM)

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