Planned a birthday surprise getaway to Montigo Resort for Bernard's birthday in March and it was probably the craziest and best surprise I've ever threw! It was so tough hiding it from him because I am so used to telling him every thing. Worst part of the planning is probably when I found out that I "lost" my passport 3 days before leaving for Batam. I called up Montigo, who directed me to Agoda to change the dates of my stay and thankfully, they only charged me a small sum.
So, the surprise. I basically woke him up randomly and told him I was going to give him his birthday present. It was like 8:30 am in the morning and he just gave me the are-you-kidding-it's-too-early-for-anything face. I bashed him till he went to wash up and he obviously kept asking questions like "Do I have to carry any bag?" and there, I passed him a huge duffel bag but didn't allow him to open it. I guess he thought all his "gifts" were inside but nah.. it was 2 days worth of clothes (packed by me)!
I called a cab and he kept asking why we couldn't drive.. The taxi drove towards Tanah Merah and he had so many guesses - At first he thought we were going to USS (uhm), then he thought we were flying out cause we were going to the direction of the airport and the best guess? "ARE WE GOING TO PULAU UBIN??" sot.
And so we arrived at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal! He was like squealing - "Batam??" He thought we were going there for a day trip to do water sports. Like, if you know me well enough, WHY WOULD I GO TO BATAM TO DO WATER SPORTS?
Still, I kept the secret of our stay at Montigo. Took the ferry and arrived 35 minutes later! Upon arrival, I walked towards the Montigo counter and Bernard's face was priceless HAHA!
Boarded their shuttle bus and that was when everything sunk in for Bernard lol - "So we're not here for water sports? Is it still a day trip?"
Arriving at the resort and this is the view that welcomed us! We got a early check-in and an upgrade to the Hill Top Villa!!
(I'll be splitting my trip into two posts, one focusing on the surprise and second focusing on the review of the resort - after all, I have over 70 pictures to post ~.-)
Lunch at Tadd's! Bernard had the Ayam Panggang Berempah - translates to Spicy Grilled Chicken which was good. Chicken was flavourful and moist! I like my signature Nongsa Nasi Goreng more though, super sedap!!
Took a dip in our private pool after lunch!! One thing I really disliked was probably the weather. It was insane and far worse than Singapore. We literally just wanted to laze in the pool all day. I left my phone in the sun and this literally popped up:
CRAZY RIGHT??
The super sweet staff of Montigo surprised Bernard with a cake along with a birthday song (played on the guitar!!) and balloons. They're seriously the sweetest!
Caught a glimpse of the sunset at our balcony and the iconic "bridge" of Montigo before we headed off to dinner at Pantai, another restaurant in the resort! kayz the secret is out, I brought Bernard to Montigo just so he could take nice pictures of me.
Pardon the overly-saturated photos!
Pantai is a seafood restaurant. We ordered the salted egg squid and black pepper crab, both were SO GOOD!
I was so tired after a long day I swear I fell asleep at the restaurant (not looking this flawless obviously). It also shows how cosy this kelong-style restaurant is! I bet Bernard was so embarrass watching me sleep but waking up at 6 am and swimming the entire day is pretty damm tiring lul.
Went back to rest after : )
Woke up for breakfast at Tadd's. BUFFETTTTT! It was honestly so good, one of the best breakfast buffet I had.
Day 2 was also check-out day. I booked the last ferry back so we could fully utilise our time at the resort! Left our baggages at the reception and decided to spend the rest of the day at Tiigo, their very own beach club.
They had ping pong, darts, pool and the coolest pool hehe :> The staff at the club asked if he could play with Bernard haha super cute. As mentioned, they're all so friendly and super sweet! I'll elaborate more in my next post!
Heard so much about the famous Teh Botol so I asked Bernard to buy it at the ferry terminal. IT TASTED SO NICE. Bernard said I should get another bottle since all the money we were left with was just nice to afford for one lmao guess what I did????
I BOUGHT THE WRONG BOTTLE! Idk what the heck I bought but it was carbonated and disgusting as shit and I was so depressed hahaha. At least the maggie goreng we had was one of the best I had!!
Super lengthy post but thanks for reading guys, hope this was worth the two weeks wait haha! Just came back from Hong Kong and i'm back to work already! Pardon the busyness!
