HADY MIRZA WON!!!

Yup, am darn please that Hady won the Singapore Idol!!! Yay!!!

Yes, I have been following the Singapore Idol. Nope, I am not a crazy teenager who is totally in love with the idol finalists. I just like watching the competition because there ARE some people out there who can actually sing (not all the finalists but there were some gems there). And yes, have been rooting for Hady to win this competition and am glad he did. Yes, I did spend more than I did last year in number of votes for Taufik but it was worth it. Will donate the equivalent amount that I spent for the finals to a worthy cause so that I don't feel so guilty spending on Singapore Idol *laughs* Anyways, am in a good mood so will not bark at anyone tomorrow.

Hmmm...

This extract is from the BBC News website:

In his speech at Regensburg University, the German-born pontiff explored the historical and philosophical differences between Islam and Christianity and the relationship between violence and faith.

Stressing that they were not his own words, he quoted Emperor Manual II Paleologos of the Byzantine Empire, the Orthodox Christian empire which had its capital in what is now the Turkish city of Istanbul.

The emperors words were, he said: "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

Benedict said "I quote" twice to stress the words were not his and added that violence was "incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul".

Political and religious leaders are powerful people with great influences over people far and wide. Thus, there is greater responsibility for them to be sensitive and super careful about what they say to their followers. Am rather curious as to why Pope Benedict said such a thing. Maybe I don't understand the context that it was being said. Am not angry, just disappointed. The previous Pope was a man that many people respected, regardless of our faith. He pretty much wanted everyone to get along. Slawek reminded me that the last Pope was a Pole, thus that's the reason for him being nice and reasonable :o) Possible yes.

Anyways, like everything else, saying 'Sorry' is easy. But once words have been uttered, it's almost impossible to take back and apologising will not make those words go away. Lesson for us here is to think before we speak, be sensitive about others and we all should strive for WORLD PEACE *grins*

Save the Turtles - A Turtle Conservation Programme

I was lucky enough to have witness these little fellas being released. It's really sad that many will not make it back and only a small percentage. But that's like I guess. And they will return to Bintan 20 years from now to lay their eggs.

Have YouTubed this clip so that I can put it up here for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

First weekend trip to Bintan

Above: Eternity pool at Nirwana Gardens at 7a.m.

I decided on an island retreat for a change. Just had an urge to go to some nice seaside resort to just reflect on life (think it's part of the ageing process). Bintan was close enough as it was only a 45 minute ferry ride away and after surfing the net, Nirwana Gardens was the choice thanks to their summer promo.

Went with a good friend, and we were armed with books, magazines, journal for her and some work reading for me. We were also warned to bring our own snacks cuz it was expensive there so we lugged 12 cans of Coke (only one made it back) and a combined of $50 worth of snacks (disappointing but we brought back a bag full of the snacks that we didn't manage to finish). Yes, we were prepared.

We spent the first day just settling in and in the evening, managed to watch the release of hawkbill turtles at the beach. We were very lucky to have witness this. We saw the little fellas being dug out, and then released into the sea. For such tiny creatures, it was hard work for them to make it to the sea. And we learnt that only a few actually survive and come back to Bintan 20 years later to lay them eggs.

Below: Hawkbill turtles being dug out

At night, we took a blue bus that took us to a handicraft market called Pasar Oleh Oleh. Lots of handicraft stalls and eating places. But take note that only tourists seem to frequent this place. Bus costs S$6 per person for a round trip. And if like us you miss the bus (cuz we thought it was complimentary), you end up paying S$14 for a one way taxi ride which lasted about 8 minutes. Yes, it was daylight (nighttime in this case) robbery and it kinda spoilt our day. And when asked why it was expensive, the answer we got 'RESORT' which seem to explain why EVERYTHING is so costly.

On the second day, we spent a good part of the morning by the beach. We managed to find a secluded part of the beach, with a nice hut for us to sit sheltered from the sun. We were not ready to bake in the sun so the shade was perfect and we had our own 'private' beach cuz we were tucked away from the other people. The weather was hot (better hot than rain), and we managed to soak in the sea too. And we even saw little fish swimming about us. They were harmless enough and we were more afraid that we might actually hurt them. But when the tide came up, the little fellas went away too. But it was really cool seeing them swimming. And yes, that was how clear the sea water was.

Above: View of our 'private' beach from the hut.

In the afternoon, we spent our time trying air rifle shooting and archery. Even thoughts of Legolas didn't manage to inspire me to continue with archery after about 25 arrows. It wasn't easy and you really need arm power. We did manage to shoot majority of the arrows on the board and a few did go astray (we justified it by saying that there could be enemies hiding so those arrows were meant for them).

But we reached the conclusion that we preferred the air rifle shooting and did much much better there. We had to aim for tin cans and we did pretty good.

Above: Picture of the target we had to aim at for rifle shooting.

The last day was just spent lazing about. Lots of lazing about since our departure time was 6.30pm. So we managed to do some reading. I reckon 4 days and 3 nights would be a comfortable getaway to truly feel relax at Bintan. Would I go again, yes, but maybe try a different resort for comparison. And ultimately, would like have a go at Banyan Tree..maybe when am feeling very very loaded I might just do that. Heard that it's an amazing resort at amazing prices. So time to save up for that!

The weekend trip ended way too quickly for my liking. I have gotten several shades darker thanks to several minutes spent in the sea. It was an expensive trip thanks to the fact that everything was in S$ but many times more than what we would pay in Singapore. But it's part of the 'resort' experience. Food and service at the resort was so so. So yes, am looking forward to another trip (maybe several more trips) back to Bintan. Just need to find long weekends for these trips.

Below: Room where we hid when the sun got way too hot!