Club Med Bintan

There is no way I can come up with a spiritual explanation for this trip, so I am not even going to try. The extended vesak Day long weekend in Bintan was nevertheless brilliant! The boys and I were there with 3 other families: the Teongs, Wongs and Sims. This is the 1st time in 6 years we have all been away together. We used to do a couple of trips a year with the group (pre-divorce days when we were still the “Pros”): Our kids were all about the same age and we used to golf and mahjong together so the 4 couple thing was perfect.

I was a little apprehensive at 1st since I would be the only single mum on this trip and wasn’t sure how it would feel being one wheel short. The group made be feel completely at ease though and everything happened naturally. I am glad that I am now able to reach this new milestone where I can comfortably embrace single parenthood and hang-out with normal families without reservations.

There were 11 children and 7 adults on the trip and it was just amazing fun. There was group-time playing pool captains ball / volley ball; there was alone-time spent reading and working on my swim drills; there was girlie-time sipping margaritas on the beach; there was adventure-time on the swinging trapeze, kayaking and sailing…. And we were only there for 4 days believe it or not!!!
mat on the flying trapeze

The only bad thing about the trip was Nic’s little drama over a Jelly-fish bite. There were colonies of jelly-fish in the sea which brings to question : "How wise is it to actually be swimming in Jelly-fish infested waters?" Well, after much debate, we came to the conclusion that we should not live in fear. Let’s take the analogy of mosquitoes for instance. There are mosquitoes everywhere and mosquito bites are bloody itchy, they scar and worse yet, mosquitoes carry dangerous diseases like Malaria and Dengue. Does this mean that we should not go out? No, we just need to take the necessary pre-cautions and be ready to live with the consequences when something does happen. Well, the same for swimming in the sea. Jelly-fish were not going to scar is away from swimming in the sea! We can wear full-body suits (or at least swim shirts), have vinegar on hand, be prepared to pee on ourselves and eventually have a telephone number to call a doctor if the reaction gets too bad!!! Nic, BL, Tzen Wei and Sebastien were all stung and they all lived to tell the story. Nic being the drama queen that he is completely over-reacted though, He started screaming about not being able to breath and his lips hurting. I, of course, freaked out and called in the docter that was going to give him a anti-venom jab and since Nic is afraid of jabs, he refused the injection. Anyway, the super-drama meant he had to stay in and miss dinner and breakfast to have some quiet reflection time.

Nic's jelly-fish sting

The kids had a great discussion regarding punishment following this incidence. Most of the kids have experienced THE CANE, and were discussing where and how it hurt most. (Butt, hands, legs??? Over or under clothes?? ) Well, it appears that the most painful is where there is no flesh so the palm of the hands definitely works better than the butt!!! Tzen Wei’s response to all this was the classic though: “I am not afraid of the cane, my mother’s words are the most painful……” What a well-trained kid!!! I am still trying to find the best way to discipline. I hate using the cane because I do not think it actually works, and I fear that I am only venting my own anger. I feel that reflection time is important so Stephan is generally made to stand in a corner and the boys are either made to run 5km around a track or write a discussion paper about what they did wrong and how it should not happen again. I do not like to associate running with punishment so this punishment is dished out quite sparingly. I am not sure they are reflecting on the right thing on their run anyways. The discussion paper works but I fear that they are not putting enough thought into it as the quality of the work is generally very mediocre. Stephan’s time-out in the corner most definitely doesn’t work as he just plays with himself and apologizes without any real remorse. I have resorted to the cane with Stephan but this is only temporary until I can find a more appropriate solution or hopefully he becomes less naughty.

we tried checking the kids into kids club but that lasted all of 2hrs cos they were "so bored"... those little spoilt brats!!

The boys loved it so much that Stephan keeps asking to go back to Bintan (not knowing that his friends are no longer there though) and Nic & Mat want to give Egypt a miss and hang-out with the Teongs & Wongs in Bali instead. Guess we will have to organize another trip soon. Phuket for the tri (after Yen & I train.....) & diving on the Black Manta in November?

Steph with little Nicholas

BL & I

stephan & spencer @ movie night under the stars...