Sun, Sand, Shopping, Swimming (and Haze...)

Hello!

     Today marks my day of liberation! That's right! My finals are OVER, which means NO curriculum till February next YEAR! :D Alright, I assure you there would be more blog posts coming up but in the meantime... Let me share a little about a recent trip to... BATAM! Ok, Batam isn't the first place anyone would think of when you mention the word "Shelling" but hey, it was worthwhile... with the exception of the stupid HAZE... -.-" Anyways, for those in Singapore, you'd probably experienced worse, surviving under a higher-than-my-PSLE-score PSI reading for 3 consecutive days... So here it is...

 So... The ferry terminal is located somewhere upstream of a river, with its banks lined with rows of MANGROVES (Rhizophora sp.), as seen from their distinctive prop roots... Apparently, they help in maintaining the concentration of salt within the plant and BREATHE when exposed to air during low tide... Amazing...

 Batam Meowmeows... :3

 The view from our resort... Would have been spectacular if not for the 100= PSI HAZE... The chain of rocks close to the shore was apparently placed there to prevent the reclaimed white sand from being swept into the deep by currents... :/ (P.s. was a little disappointed to find out it was an artificial beach... Few shells... :( ) although I did manage to find a mini INDIAN BABYLON WHELK... haiz...

 BUT! The resort was heavenly... this is the sea-facing third storey... LOOK! Facing the... Singapore straits... :/ Alright, the view is worthy of a decent applause...

 AND a PRIVATE POOL, Facing the sea and a beautiful sunset!!! This is life at it's best... EXCEPT FOR THAT DARNED HAZE... -.-

 And yea, ignoring all PSI readings, I did manage to sneak a short visit to the coast on the eastern side and was not let down...that much...

 The usual residents on Sandy Shores, the RIBBED VENUS CLAM can also be found in huge numbers along the eastern coast of Bintan (Trikora). Collected some of these to create mini pieces of shell art...

 A CHAMELEON NERITE and a random crab shell.

 and two LAND HERMIT CRABS, no longer than half the length of my thumb...

 The general makeup of this section of the coast consists mainly of rocks, pebbles, driftwood and gravel... I'm suspecting that this was originally a rocky shore or cliff.. :/

 and my first ever collected BITUBERCULATE ROCK SHELL! Yes! this kiddo was hidden beneath a pile of driftwood, rocks, leaves and blah... Felt like the luckiest child on the coast when I found this guy (Well, probably because I was also the ONLY person along the coast...)

 how it looks like... (SEE how poor the air quality is? ...)

 and a DOVE SHELL! Still unsure of it's specie though... :/

Rocks leading to the sea... I presume they were left there to act as headlands to weaken the wave impact along the "mini-bays".

 Name: Beach Disappointment. :(

 The lovely villa...

 Ok, the tides receded REALLY far in the morning and BOY! still few seashells... -.- (You'd understand my hurt... :( ) BUT! they had THOUSANDS OF FIDDLER CRABS scuttling up and down the shore. Don't be deceived though... one accidental step and you would fall into knee-deep mud. Moral of the story: The haze did it... -.- Anyway, my sis and I went down and had a mini-self-initiated project of crab catching so yea... :/

 Checked out of the resort... Felt really sad that I had to finally leave the private pool and HUGE house... and to make matters worse, the PSI was raised to above 200. (The photo above actually depicts a sea and the sky... pathetic...)

 and my lousy mahjong tiles...

 After about 4 rounds or so we were eventually back at the harbour, ready to be deported back to Singapore...

 the Jetty...

 And a white, pristine beach at the river mouth...

and of course, a lovely sunset to end of this trip...

Mixed feeling though... I really loved the Villa and the food at Nagoya was REALLY cheap and delicious... The massage was decent though (Probably cuz I did a Thai massage though...). What I really enjoyed was the shopping, dining (SEAFOOD!) and the resort... Shelling wise, Batam would not be an ideal location but if you're willing to just let yourself loose and just enjoy what nature and luxury has to offer, MINUS THE PATHETIC HAZE, you'd really find it an awesome place to relax and enjoy life's pleasures! Alright, that's all I have for this post! Stay tuned for the following one on a trip I made to the rustic Island of the North, Pulau Ubin! and just to let you in on a little secret, stay tuned to the next few blog posts. I assure you, you'll not regret it! :D

I'm Back! Bintan Shelling Expedition 1

OMG people!

    I have just returned from a major shelling trip in... Bintan! Thats right, if you do not know where is Bintan, do check out my previous post on Bintan Shells. So, what did I do? Ok, every major holiday, we would usually go somewhere for a major shelling trip and I have had a HUGE haul from the whole trip. One luggage full so we really had to be careful not to smash the fragile ones. So, if you are planning a shelling trip in Southeast Asia, just a word for you, Never expect anything from an Indo-Pacific beach... what do I mean? It means that you will never be able to get the "ideal" shell haul from the beach. It may be much better (in my case) or worse so don't prepare anything or thinkn you will collect this or that shell because it may not even appear. For example, I found only one pathetic Spider Conch for the whole entire trip but I found many other shells like a Enlongate Janthina, Strawberry Cockle... and many others (ok, they may be common but its a first time for me! :) ) So in total, I have made 4 major shelling trips and 4 minor ones (major = more than an hour) and I guess all the sandfly bites were pretty worth it and the shelling trips helped me to get a nice tan. :P
So here is the first 2 trips. These were held on the beautiful beaches of Eastern Bintan, Trikora region. The sea is lovely and crystal clear and best of all, the low tide stretches like hundreds of metres offshore! Sadly, the haul from this section wasn't too good but when I went over to the other side, it was a whole new experience...

 So here it is, Bintan Cabana Resort... a 50 minute ride away from the ferry terminal. Along the way we went past beautiful shorelines and coast.

 And as a welcome gift, we had a rainbow! The best part is it was not and did not rain even though we got the rainbow!

 My sister and I shelling... the sun now isn't that hot :) we did not find many shails, just some bivalves and certain cerith shells that are usually occupied by hermit crabs. The sea was pretty calm so not many shells were washed onshore. :(

All of a sudden, Dad tells me that there is a better beach at the Eastern Wing of the beach! I did not take this photo and regretfully, did not take any photos of the shells there either but the mostly were Ark shells and Black Lipped Conches. I also did find many One-toothed Turban Shells. :)

 7a.m., I wake up in the morning... But it's not Friday. :) The shoreline is filled with thousands of Mud Cerith Shells!

 The first find of the day! A Whelk!

 Ceriths again... the white one is a Common Vertagus.

 And Woo Hoo! A Giant Clam! this guys a juvenile, about the size of a fist. A Giant Clam (This is its name! )

 And we have hundreds of Soldier crabs!

 A pair here...

 This is what I found on the rocks, a Melongena Shell and a Bituberculate Rock Shell!

 The resort...I am now easily 80 metres away from the shore.

 Haiz... What a relaxing place...

 And In the afternoon, thr tide rises and this is what you get. Crystal clear water for hundreds of metres out!

 My resort room.

 This is the western end of the coast. Apparently, it is filled with mangroves for a section so we decided to explore it. There weren't many shells in the mangroves though...

And relaxation for the sore back at last... I did visit the Eastern end of the coast but again, did not photograph anything there but I did find a Spider Conch! I also found a Straberry Cockle and over two dozens of Black Lipped Conches. The same few (Ark, One-toothed) were there coupled on with a few Cardita Clams! I will be showing you the photos of what I have collected very soon! Also, this blog will be updated on the other few shelling trips soon so stay close! The next few will not be in Trikora but Lagoi and I have lots to tell! With that, good night! :)