Remembering.

What to you is a good holiday? An exotic destination? Fantastic shopping? Great food? Gorgeous landscapes? I definitely will not deny that the above factors contribute to a great getaway, but a good holiday to me at least is one where I will get a tinge of a heartache when I have to leave for home. My heart broke a little when I left Bali in 2002, and it broke a little again when I left Bintan on Sunday.






Now, the travel agency which Cecilia and I booked our package from had the art of creating illusions down pat. We are aware of the wonders of Photoshop and are definitely not naive enough to expect the resort to look exactly like it did in the brochure, but what greeted us at Bintan was nothing quite like we expected.

Despite the initial disappointment, Bintan turned out to be one of the unexpectedly fulfilling holidays I've had so far. Boat trips out with the locals, bantering with our guides and resort staff, doing crazy things like driving out to spy on couples making out... all the tangible factors the resort lacked was more than made up for by the locals with their genuine hospitality.

Not many managed to conceal their surprise when I decided to make the switch to pursue a degree in Communication Studies. Where was the girl, who despite well meaning advice from relatives, insisted on travelling an hour and a half everyday to the other side of Singapore just so she could pursue her interest in Hospitality Management?

Somewhere along the way, I fell in love with someone who's passion in hospitality far surpasses mine and many others' I know. And I learnt that to make your guests happy, a good hotelier would sometimes have to sacrifice his own personal engagements. When I bore the brunt of one too many broken engagements, I got jaded, and I hate admit this, selfish. I felt that the opportunity cost just wasn't worth it.

This short trip to Bintan however rekindled the embers of my passion. On the receiving end of such warm hospitality, I remembered how it is like to want to make someone's day, be it with a smile or a chat.

Though I didn't quite achieve the inner peace I'd initially seeked to find while I am away, Bintan opened my mind up to just that few more possibilities and opportunities. And to borrow a couple of lines from You Could Be Happy by Snow Patrol, a song which a friend has been actively promoting...

"Do the things that you always wanted to
Without me there to hold you back, don't think, just do
More than anything I want to see you go
Take a glorious bite out of the whole world."