We did manage to get in some relaxation here and there during our Bintan holiday, despite having a little tot with us. Best part was the 2 hour massage at the Angsana spa. Ohhhhh… BLISS!! Even their reception/store area is lovely, mainly because it smells absolutely amazing. Don’t you love the scent that spas have? It instantly makes me feel so zen and relaxed and happy as a clam :)

The beautiful-smelling spa reception and store

I was lead to an open-air spa villa for the massage. It was surreal – hearing the waves crashing on the beach just outside, but also quiet serenity in the villa. The cold essential oil-scented towel to wipe my face and hands with kicked off an awesome 2 hour spa experience. They think of all the little things, like letting you choose your potpourri fragrance that is placed under your massage bed so it wafts up, the chilled glass of calamansi juice and fresh fruit/veg salad afterwards, and using warm wet towels to clean you off.

The open-air private villa with outdoor shower

It was a much-needed luxurious treat. Funny how pre-baby, we could have massages every week. And now, it’s this ridiculously special treat that needs all the stars to align in order for that to happen ;) Wish I could’ve done this every single day on our trip, but I’ll take what I can get!

Got some little souvenirs though, since their store was so enticing :P Their spunned rayon sarong wrap was too pretty to resist! A rich red colour, it was so soft and lovely on the skin I was sold. It’s great as a blanket to lay down for Hunter to sit down on, or to wear as a dress or skirt.

Also got this night spray that you’re meant to spray on your pillow to promote a restful sleep. It smelled so divine and relaxing! I’m using it on Hunter’s bedsheet and my pillow, and love the scent :)

The spa also gave me a complimentary bottle of their essential oil blend, so I got their ceramic oil burner to scent up our home. Now I’m going to try and make our place smell like Angsana spa, heh!

Sarong wrap, night spray, essential oil, and ceramic burner

Anyway, the rest of the trip was just spent chilling, wandering around and enjoying the fresh tropical air. It was a nice little getaway for us, and a good taste of what going on holiday with a young child will be like.

We’ve gone from going on one trip per month, to almost none at all since I gave birth. So it’s nice to get back in there bit-by-bit!

Happy chappy chilling out

Beautiful scenery. Isn't the ocean relaxing?

The gardens around the resort

Taking Hunter for a walk to the pool

He thoroughly enjoyed his new swim ring and was giggling away in the water!

I know it’s a bit sad that we waited until Hunter was 8 months old before he went on his first holiday. He did go on his first aeroplane when he was 3 months old though, and took it brilliantly, so I have to give him credit for that! But it’s hard coordinating our schedules, and working up the confidence to take him out of his regular routine. I’m glad we finally did, since the next trip will be to Australia.. now THAT will be interesting!

So first I have to be frank and say that all the food we ate was food served in the resort. No, we didn’t suddenly have a moment of insanity. Rather, the purpose of our trip was to relax and spend time together as a family, so we did away with sight-seeing and traipsing around the place looking for ‘the best food’ (like we normally do).

Angsana’s food was actually pretty good, definitely not bad for hotel food and at least it didn’t make me feel so deprived. Normally, I’d  be pissed off if I had to suffer hotel food for the entire trip, since to me, a holiday IS about eating ;)

Best part? Room-service breakfast. Ohhhh it is bliss sitting at the balcony overlooking the resort’s pool and the ocean…. enjoying the early morning sunshine… and chowing down on breakfast :)

Breakfast time!

Our breakfast spread

Savory and sweet breakfasts

Since Angsana Resort and Banyan Tree Resort are owned by the same company (and side-by-side), we could take the (crazy fast!) buggy between resorts. And so we got to check out some of the restaurants over at Banyan Tree :P

In particular, I liked Tree Tops Restaurant, which was high up among the trees and had gorgeous views, not to mention excellent service. They served traditional Indonesian food, modern style. Loved the presentation and the portion sizes were very generous :)

Gorgeous infinity pool at Tree Tops

Mr Marshmallow Man feeling much cheerier

Beef Rendang and Nasi Goreng

Club sandwich in the resort's cafe. The fries were fab!

We also heard that Angsana provides a babysitting service for guests. YAY!!! It’s US$7 an hour. Americans, is that ‘standard rate’ for you? Anyway, we thought it was pretty reasonable and the babysitter was a very sweet lady. And boy, what a luxury it is to be baby-free for a bit during a holiday :P

The Cove is situated up on a hill, overlooking the ocean. It’s quiet and romantic, and really rather lovely to sit outdoors on their veranda and have a cocktail and a nice dinner date.

The Cove, with gorgeous views

Our meal

A rose for me at the end of our meal :)

I guess I’m a wee bit bummed that we didn’t get to poke around the place and do local stuff. It also made me realise that once you have a family, your holidays become drastically different. Gone are the days that we can laze around and sleep in, and gone are the days that we just do whatever we want, whenever we want. Now, things need to be planned carefully, and all activities are carefully vetted to make sure they’re baby-OK.

How life has changed!

Hunter had never seen the ocean or sand before, so we wanted to take him to the beach for a swim during our holiday in Bintan. Can you imagine, seeing a HUGE body of water for the first time in your life? What about feeling sand under your feet for the first time? That is the privilege we have as parents – to be able to experience all these simple things through the eyes of our child :)

Chris insisted on decking him out completely with hat, rashie, boardshorts and sunblock.. because of his ridiculously fair skin which would probably sizzle after 2 seconds in direct sunshine ;) He looked like a typical little Aussie boy. It was adorable!

Our 'lil Aussie boy

His reaction? Rather LOL-worthy ;) He was incredulous at the sand. As in, gaping, wide-eyed, incredulous. We popped him sitting down on the sand and tossed some on his feet, and he just gave this horrified, “what the…?” expression. He kind of froze and just STARED at his sand-covered feet in astonishment. Haha!

"WHAT IS THIS????"

And touching cold, wet, sand where the waves lapped at the shore? Ummm.. his first time didn’t pan out very well ;) He was flat-out overwhelmed by it all. Guess it didn’t help that he wasn’t in the best of moods, since he was pretty grumpy with his snuffly nose.

When we plonked his two little feet into the water and sand, he immediately “flamingo’d” - that is, bringing one leg right up to try and avoid it! He wailed, but we couldn’t help but laugh at his reaction. Yes, we are evil parents for laughing when he’s upset, but it really was pretty hilarious ;)

Our upset flamingo ;)

After all the excitement, shock and horror.. he got snuggled up and got loads of cuddles from us, for being a trooper. He generally is fine with new surroundings and rolls with new situations, so it was surprising that he was neutral-to-upset with his first visit to the beach. So I’m pretty sure it’s cos he wasn’t feeling well, as he was just fine the next day. Whew!

Getting cuddles after his 'ordeal'

Looking rather nonplussed the entire time

We spent most of the day lounging around on the beach. I mean, there’s not much else to do, is there ;) Plus, not like we can go jet-skiing, hiking, or all the other activities available. Things are pretty constrained when you have a young baby on holiday with you!

Chilling out on the beach

Bliss :)

Love the big cabanas!

For those of you with kids – how did yours react when they first experienced sand and sea?

Would love to know if they liked it right from the start, or were a bit freaked out by it all (like Hunter)…!

We're off on our first family holiday!

Our first family holiday was approached with a bit of trepidation since we weren’t sure how Hunter would react to new surroundings, new bed, etc. Would he freak out? Would he take it all like a champion?

In short, he rolled very well with it all.. apart from also suffering from his first sickness. Yep, at 8 months old, our baby boy FINALLY fell sick for the first time in his life! Frankly, his flu is super-mild. Only a bit of a snotty nose (doesn’t drip unless he cries), and a sporadic cough (once every few hours). Really, it’s no big deal. But noooooo you wouldn’t think so, looking at him. We discovered that he is a total sook when he’s sick, which of course we discovered when he fell sick on the first day. He was sooo sensitive and easily pissed off!

Thankfully, his naps and night sleeps were still no problem – he fell asleep within minutes and would sleep through. But, much of his awake time was spent feeling sorry for himself and being rather glum. D’oh…

Checking stuff out on the ferry

Mr Glum feeling rather 'off'

We stayed at the Angsana Hotel & Resort which had outstanding service and beautiful open spaces with loads of greenery. It was pouring down with rain when we arrived in the morning (argh), but the skies all cleared up by afternoon and was nice for the next few days – whew!

The airy dining room

Hanging out in the lobby

Cuddling up to Dad

In our room

Checking out the bed

The main mode of transportation was by buggy. They actually drive pretty fast around the resort and also between Angsana and Banyan Tree (owned by the same company), and the small lanes are quite hilly. So here we are perched on the back of the buggy, with Chris hanging onto Hunter with all his might!! Of course, Hunter’s eyeballs were the size of saucers the whole time ;)

*ZOOOOOOMMM* goes the buggy!

And… just to wrench our hearts, here is Hunter the next morning. Normally he wakes up supremely happy and gurgling away merrily. So it was really distressing to see him looking so utterly sorrowful. He cheered up once he was fully awake and was OK during the holiday, but wailed HUGE tears whenever we tried to wipe his nose.. sigh.

My little blubberguts

Chris has the whole week off this week, so we’re off on our first every family holiday! Considering we are ridiculously strict about Hunter’s schedule and making sure he sleeps in his own cot every night at home, this is pretty epic ;)

But, we’ll be spending the next few days lazing around under the sun, playing in the sand, and splashing in the water.

I can’t wait :)

See you all when we get back. Have a fabulous week!