Telunas 2014

I brought my family to Telunas last April on 18, 19 and 20th April 2014 and we had a fabulous time!

STAGE ZERO

Of course, initially, as I had recounted, my siblings were extremely reluctant about going someplace where internet was not available. 

"What the hell! There's no internet? What are we going to f------ do there?! Wahhh.... Seriously, I don't want to go there anymore." Honestly, it was like they were about to wage a protest against me. If I was a tour guide to Telunas and my whole group were a bunch of tech geeks, they would be pissssssssed.


STAGE ONE
Upon arrival at Sekupang Terminal, we were supposed to find the staff of Telunas --> They would be wearing blue and ready to pick us up the moment we arrived. True enough, they were standing there, waiting for us, return tickets and list of names on hand. 'Emily?' (She mispronounced my name, Emilia) Not wanting to embarrass her, I went ahead and acknowledged that as my name. (Which would turn out to be a bad decision considering I had to endure her calling me by a stranger's name for the next 2 days)


STAGE ONE POINT FIVE

Because we were provided the express service, us and other tourists toward Telunas were able to skip the long queue for passport check at the customs. Our passports were all placed together with a Telunas staff and we proceeded towards out Sampan boat. She explained that she would return our passports to us once she received it. However, just as we were all ready to board, a tourist started making a fuss.

"Why can't we have our passports now? If we queued the normal way, shouldn't we have our passports by now?" The staff tried to explain that it was faster this way but he insisted on having his and his family members' passports with him. I can understand where he is coming from, your passport is your identity card the moment you're overseas so you have to keep it with you at all costs. Apparently, as I found out 2 and a half days later, they kept the passports in their safe and would only return them to us the moment we paid our bill. That's sneaky is what I think.

As a result of that, the Telunas staff had no choice but to bring the guy back to the terminal (which is a 10 minutes walk away from the harbour where we were currently at) to retrieve the passports.

And so, for another 20 minutes, we just sat at the dock, waiting for the man who's wasting our beautiful beach time since we couldn't just leave him behind without a transport to Telunas (we're just too nice).

I guess it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because we ended up enjoying the view and buying a few snacks at the food stands nearby.

STAGE 2: ON THE SEAS

The boat ride towards Telunas was almost an hour long and the horrible noise emanating from the engine just made it even more unbearable BUT, if it's any consolation, the sloshing sounds of the water against the boat, the slapping of the wind against your cheeks and the breeze running through your hair should be able to ease that little bump.

Of course my tech geek brother had to bring his phone, he's practically married to it

Need I repeat that it was almost an hour's ride? 

But I have to say, the waters were stunning. I guess growing up in a city like Singapore, you rarely get to immerse yourself into nature despite the abundance of trees. 

STAGE 3: TELUNAS

There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.

- Nelson Mandela

Telunas was a beauty in itself, everything was still the same as it was when I left in 2012. It was amazing and I'm happy I was able to share it with my family in the 3 days we were there. We kayaked, had pizza, dock jumped, went fishing and just had a very laid-back, relaxing time-something we would never have gotten had we just stayed back in Singapore during the Friday holiday + free weekend.

I'm glad my sister and youngest brother mentioned that they wish to come back again one day simply because it was peaceful and they loved the beach.

Telunas I'm Coming for Yooooooooooooou

I'll finally be introducing to my family, Telunas, the place I've been telling them so much about the first time I went there. Read the following post if you missed it.

Telunas is absolutely beautiful and relaxing, definitely somewhere you would want to go for a cheap relaxation trip. 9 people for only SGD2600.00 and this includes accommodation, food and travel! Plus a river tour and pizza making that I arranged for. Hopefully, my family will enjoy their time here. 

My only worry or so to say, 'irritation' would be my dad. He loves comparing places and making mountains out of molehills. It's super frustrating. I would love for him to just soak in the moment and enjoy the surroundings. Would have to tell him THAT before we leave LOL

Can't wait for the clear water beach!! 5 weeks more, 5 weeks more :)

Taking a Trip To Telunas

Last September, I had the opportunity to be a part of a camp where i had a taste of nature, was isolated from the outside world and experienced many adventures which would turn out to be memories i forever will hold. 4 groups of students, about 15-20 per group, including myself, took a boat down to Telunas, Riau Island and had a 3 day camp there. 

Map

That small red balloon is where Telunas is located where we travelled all the way from Singapore which is at the top of the picture

Firstly, let me brief you in on its history... Telunas is located at one of Indonesia's mini islands, it was bought by an Ang Moh who turned the island into a getaway or leadership camp hotspots. One of the Singapore Polytechnic (SP) lecturers actually found the island and recommended it to the board to be the place for future SPOT (Singapore Polytechnic Outstanding Students) students to have their leadership camp in. And that's how this yearly camp tradition began for every 2nd year SPOT students. SPOT is actually a program to grow students to be a Leader, Humanitarian and Communicator, I'm lucky to be a part of it :) Fortunately or unfortunately, the spouse of the SP lecturer is from Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP), SP's rival school and she also recommended it for some of their camps.

Upon arrival, we were treated to their speciality drink which consisted of some fruits i guess, it was a lil sour to me so i gave up on trying to finish it after a few sips. Immediately after the briefing which consisted of the lunch time, merchandise store etc. we proceeded to our bunks. Each bunk has about 8 beds and one toilet inside the bunk, you'd think it's dirty or something because this place is on some island but it's quite clean and beautiful, it's too bad i didn't bring any cameras with me, not even my handphone to take a photo :(

The reason why was because my leader, Issac, said that we should not depend on technology in this next 2 or 3 days and just enjoy ourselves. I'm glad i heeded his advice because that was one of the best decisions i have ever made. The 3 days were wonderful, i immersed myself into the beauty that was this island. Fortunately, one of the girls, brought along her Nikon Coolpix which helped take the next few photos that i'm about to show you :) Photo credits go to Alexandria, thanks babe!

The Beautiful Wonders that is this Island

The planks we had to walk on had quite a gap (about 4 or 5cm) so for the first 2 days, i would make sure that i don't step on the gaps but eventually, i realised i was being a little paranoid that i'd fall through and ended up running on them by the 3rd day.

These walkways and wooden cabins were super beyond the coast and thousands of feet (i'm exaggerating but it feels that way since i can't swim) above the sea floor. So you can understand my paranoia.

this photo was taken below the dock where we jumped off to do our jetty jump. IT WAS AWESOME...