A Day In Bintan, Indonesia

The International Man of Mystery flew in on his way back to our home country (from his original home country) and I thought that a nice, relaxing day across in Bintan, Indonesia was the order of the day. The weather was fabulous but...er... we both got a wee bit sunburnt without realising it!

We spent the day at the Nirwana Resort, which lets Day Trippers entry to their facilities for a nominal fee. It was a great day! Bintan is only a 45 min ferry ride from Singapore, but it feels as though you are in an entirely different part of the world!

The wonderful pool and spa facilities.

Me with the wildlife.... of the concrete kind. These species are not so endangered, and tend to be found gathered in sets of three out the front of Asian resorts.

The path from the Resort to the pools.

The Pool Bar.... 3 cans of Tiger for $24! Not exactly a bargain but its Bintan - its not meant to be cheap like the rest of Indo!

The beautiful infinity pool...

The International Man of Mystery enjoying the jacuzzi.

Jump!

Tropical paradise? Not quite... it may look idyllic but sadly, monsoon season brings oil slicks. Yes, oil slicks. It was so sad to walk along the beach to find clumps of oil. The resort had to keep meth spirits along the walkways so that guests could scrape the oil off their feet. It is a horrid reminder of the continual decimation of our environment by the oil companies.

Pippies on driftwood.

Around the Prague Castle Neighbourhood.

Downtown Prague

I thought that I would show some photos from Prague, some landscapes and streetscapes. Here are a set of photos that show life in Prague for those who live here.

Trams are a good way to get around Prague, especially for short trips in the cold, cold winter.

There is a lot of graffiti around Prague but if you look beyond the mess, there is always a message.

Another message, resonating from the Czechoslovakian history and the Nazi wartime.

I cant say much for Czech music...other than.... i hope they've updated their music collections since 1960 (is she a descendant of the Partridge Family?)

Waiting for the tram in the freezing cold.

People are Prague are very optimistic and happy.

I love love love their train stations! How futuristic!

The long escalators down to the trains.

The Gorgeous Thames

I hope the Boy doesnt mind me showing this, but this is the view from his parents' balcony. I loved it. It looks over the Thames. Stunning in winter and I can imagine it would be even better in the summertime.

Snow. Snow. Snow. More Snow.

Room WIth A View

The International Man of Mystery, enjoying the view of Prague from the top of the Prague Castle Stairs.

No kidding....

This little pooch was seen in the Jewellery store with its owner.

The pooch had a diamante-encrusted "R-U-S-S-I-A" bomber jacket on.

It gets worse. What you dont see it its diamante-encrusted backside.

Yes, the mongrel had a flower drawn using tiny individual diamantes stuck on its butt-cheek.

I kid you not.

Illustrations

In Prague, people would leave cute little snowmen on people's cars......

....but most often, they would draw penises.

Snowball's Chance

As time went by in Prague, my snowball-slingshot-firepower got better.

Aim..... FIIIIIIRE!

You can see in the below illustrated example, I almost managed a Shane Warne-type Spin motion.

Instead of the famous bowling term, "the doosra", this is now the dubbed "the whooshka".

It's all in the position of the feet and the tilt of your body.... and you must always have a look of over-exertion on your face.

Putting My New Snowball Launching Skills To Good Use

This is me now using my new-found snowball-flinging skills.

This restaurant ridiculously overcharged the Boy and I for a terrible breakfast on New Years Day and then tried to lie about the calculation of the bill.

The Boy and I later returned to the scene, and do what any disgruntled customer rightfully should:

Dispense "the Mighty Whooshka" at them.

Tragically, the "Mighty Whooshka" wasnt so mighty, and fell a little short of its target.... into the curb.

We'll be back one day.... and we'll make that next shot really count.

Fear. This.

As i said. It's all in the facial expression.

CucumberLatte?

Huh?

Puppet Politicians

We all know that Politicians are often seen as Puppets, but in Prague, they are!!

Czech out these Puppets, one of Obama and one of Vladamir Putin (ironically, only two puppets down from the Devil!).

One of the things I noticed in Prague was its anti Russian sentiment.

Some anti-Russian sentiment.... one of many pieces of graffiti.....

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Men and Gadgets = Man Love

There is Man-Porn. And then there is plain old simple garden-type Man-Love.

The International Man of Mystery loves gadgets. If it drives, flies, fixes, screws, drills, measures, twists, or turns, the International Man of Mystery will have already grabbed it, disregarded the instructions, tried it, tested it, pulled it apart, put it back together again and then found another task that requires its use.

We were on the flight from London to Prague on the lovely BreakTheBank Airways (or commonly known as, BA) when the Boy disappears off to the toilet. He then returns, smiling like a Cheshire Cat. He'd managed to use his charm on the Cabin Stewardess who gave him an invitation into the cockpit once the flight had touched down. Apparently the "Captain" was more than happy to meet him.

Flight touches down, Boy goes off for a Love In with the Captain and his First Officer and I patiently wait in the wings (so to speak) ready for the Boy to get his fix of buttons, flicks, switches and gizmos.

I was almost ready for the Boy to light a cigarette once he was done, he was so happy afterwards. Either that or find out he'd given an invite for the Captain and his FO to join us for dinner!

Man Love. There you have it.

Football.... On Bikes?!

After celebrating New Years with an amazing dinner on the foreshore of the Prague River, the Boy and I came home and turned on the television.....

.....and this is what we saw.

I had to have a think about whether I had in fact consumed too much alcohol, but no, the Boy (who had consumed way more than I had) agreed that he was seeing it with his very own eyes as well.

Bizarre.

Pitter Patter of Little Feet

No, I'm not pregnant. No pitter pattering of tiny feet. I was referring to this photo, which I thought was so adorably cute. In Prague, the snow had melted but in between, you could see where the little birds had walked around. CUTE!