Hello From Bintan Island, Indonesia

As the title calls, "hello from Bintan Island", I'm writing this post from the island itself! This is our third day here and seriously my first time on the laptop to write a post in what seems to be a while. About a week ago, a friend and I travelled to Singapore for a holiday of sightseeing and to enjoy the culinary delights Singapore has to offer.

We've since taken a side trip to Bintan Island, Indonesia. It's only a simple 50 minutes ferry ride from Singapore. I'll write a separate post about the amazing Singapore trip later but for now I wanted to share my time on Bintan Island with you. 

Bintan Island is part of Indonesia and as I mentioned before, it is only a simple 50 minutes ferry ride from Singapore so it's a fabulous and easy side trip for anyone going to Singapore and wanting something a little different. This is the first time to Bintan Island for me and I only came across it because of advice from friends and to break-up the Singapore trip I had planned.

We're staying at the Bintan Lagoon Resort which is about a 30 minutes drive from the ferry terminal when you arrive. The resort is nice but personally, nothing too flash; however, it does have everything that you need. The decor is still very much in the 70's and 80's - some updating to the decor could be done but I guess that is what the charm is about this place. The staff here, however, are very friendly and are always there to assist with anything you may need or not even need. 

Our private beach - bliss!

The resort is pretty much on the other side of the island from where the ferry lands so you are a little further away from the main town/village and the downfall is that they don't provide a shuttle bus that goes from the hotel to the main village. To get there you would need to get a taxi which would cost the equivalent of approximately $50 AUS for a round trip (a little expensive). However, there are 12 restaurants, bars and cafes so you do have plenty of options to choose from including two pools, the private beach, beach activities including kayaking, gym, activities for adults and children and even a karaoke bar!

One of two pools available at the resort

It has been great being here just lounging around by the pool and beach, reading and just generally relaxing and recharging the energy. Today we treated ourselves to a 2 hour body de-stress message at the Aroma River Spa which is a 50 minutes drive from our resort. Yes, we could have had a massage at our resort but Aroma River Spa provides a better value and the cost includes lunch and transport to and from. So, it was a nice treat to get away from our resort for the day and experience another part of Bintan Island. 

The massage was amazing; starting off with choosing the salt scrub, the aroma oil for the massage and a tasty lime and masala ice tea you're instantly relaxed and prepared for the next two hours of bliss! After the amazing massage we were treated to a boat ride through the mangroves, arriving to where our tasty lunch was being served with a giant coconut water! 

Our amazing and delicious lunch

Stolling along the beautiful beach

Ahhhh, I'm feeling all relaxing and my skin is feeling soft like a baby's bottom! A delicious dinner will end this day perfectly. 

Jo x

The Oscars in Sydney 2015

I know I've been a bit quiet of late and haven't written any post for a little while or even been very active on my Instagram account. My 9 to 5 daily job has seriously been keeping me busy and I've been interstate or working late nights and have been so tired in between; then there's time spent catching up with family and friends, attending birthdays, hens night and volunteering in between. Life can be so full on at times!

Last Monday night, Sydney time, I attended "The Oscar Challenge Academy" (OCA) 4th Annual Oscar Challenge that was superbly organised by my boot camp friend, Annette, the OCA President. Annette absolutely loves the Oscars and is excited about it premiering each year, so the OCA began 4 years ago in her lovely lounge room with her bestie, Adam, OCA Vice President, and a few of her friends.

From her small little humbling Oscar Challenge in her lounge room in Sydney's northern beaches, it has since grown and in its fourth year, it had over 35 people (friends of friends) attend and the location moved to a theatre in Fox Studios Australia at Moore Park. For my first time attending, it was an awesome location and my first time driving through Fox Studios - so cool!

Our very own Oscar Awards

The entire event was thoroughly thought through and organised perfectly. Everyone attending had to come (fancy) dressed up as any character from any of the Oscar nominations and the effort that everyone made was outstanding and serious business. I'll have to get on top of that for next years event for sure! There were awards for Best Dressed, Most Films Watched, Newcomer, and even a Quizmaster, which I failed miserably but it was fun!

The night consisted of us walking down a red carpet, being interviewed along the way, taking photos, being treated to champagne, dinner, popcorn and plenty of lollies to out-do a kids party. 

It was the first time I had ever watched the Oscars from start to finish and I would have to say it was so good and probably because it was challenge. I love a challenge! We had to complete a ballot of who we believed would win in each category and then on Monday we were all in media lock down (which included Facebook) so no-one was allowed to know who or what won so that the evening can be a surprise and fun for everyone, which it was. If you love the Oscars and love to get involved in some serious fun games, I would suggest coming to this even next year!

If you love the Oscars and think that you can take home the gold man then why don't you join in on the fun with us next year and the bonus thing is that you get to meet some amazing people and make some incredible new friends. 

The Amazing Presidents

Got to love Lego!

To the OCA team, well done on an amazing event and thank you for inviting me. I loved every minute of it and am so pumped for next year to at least walk away with one Oscar!

Jo x

Mum Fashion Styles

I recently wrote a post about my love of Instagram and a little bit of photo fun I want to start and share with everyone here and anywhere around the world to inspire each other and to remove the stigma that you must wear a suit if you work in a corporate office. Times have changed and so does fashion. Have a read of my post here and join in on the fun. 

I've since received feedback and comments from you and friends who are stay at home mums or even people who don't work in the corporate environment wanting to be involved. Well… YOU CAN GET INVOLVED. The great thing about this fun fashion photo is that there are no rules. For me I work in an office environment during the day so the word "corporate" came about but it doesn't matter what kind of work you do, where you work or if you work; I'd love for everyone, man or woman, to get involved and get creative with your photos and let people see what you wear in whatever profession you have chosen. 

To my many stay at home mums, I know that many of you have a great fashion sense; and even with kids, you still manage to go out looking a million dollars. Share this with others, inspire other mums to encourage and to show that fashion can be effortless. You can have an additional special hashtag of #dnsmummycorporatestyle

Fashionable mum (Photo Credit)

To those who have to wear a uniform for work, show us how you style it up or what accessories you add to make your outfit different. There are endless ideas and inspirations.

Katherine Sabbath is a school teacher by day & has an amazing style (Photo Credit)

So, let's get snapping, uploading and sharing and don't forget to use the main hashtag #dnscorporatestyle and follow me on @dreamsnsparkle so that I and everyone else can see what you're posting. 

Happy Instagraming! 

Jo xo 

My Fiji Break

Oh, it is so good to be back home and sleeping in my own bed. Don't get me wrong, I loved my little break in Fiji but home is where my heart is and as much as I love to travel and see the world, every time I go away, I am reminded of how much I love Sydney.

My last post about Fiji, "Bula from Fiji", I wrote about my first three days there, so click on the link and have a read, if you haven't already. In that same post I mentioned that we had booked a day trip to a private island, Schooner Island to be exact, through Rosie Holiday with a company called Whale's Tale Cruise. It was a full day trip where a bus came and picked us up at 9am sharp (no Bula time) from our resort and drove us to Port Denarau where the sail boat awaited us.

Looking up at the ship

Initially we were advised that the day trip could take a maximum of 60 people (way too many in my mind), but as luck would have it, we had about 25 people, including two kids, on this day trip. It made for a good number of people and everyone on board were really lovely and friendly with most of us getting along by the end of the day and having a good laugh and a dance on the sail boat.

The great thing about booking our day trip with Whale's Tale Cruise is that they are the only boat going to Schooner Island and the staff on the boat provide personal service for each customer throughout the whole day. We aboard the sail boat to a lovely continental champagne breakfast as the staff prepared the boat to head off. It takes approximately an hour and a half to get to Schooner Island so we enjoyed our breakfast and champagne, the company of the other people on the boat and the scenery of clear blue ocean waters and the surrounding Fijian islands. 

We arrived at Schooner Island with options to chill out on the island or take part in some activities. I chose the guided snorkel; we head out into the water with our guide, Antone, who takes us through some amazing parts where the corals are glistening, the fish are aplenty and very colourful (yes, we found nemo!) and there are many things to see and touch such as star fish and sea cucumbers. Antone, had some bread with him (that he kept in a bag) and put some in my hand and the next thing I knew, I had all these amazing fish eating out of my hand and swimming around me……it was awesome!  

We had a nice BBQ lunch on the island all together and had the option of spending the rest of the afternoon chilling on the island, more snorkelling or hand line fishing. I ended going back out snorkelling to another section and another crew member had joined us; with a long metal rod! During the whole time I thought that he was in search for a particular fish for their dinner, but to my surprise when I got back to land, he was in search of an octopus! Yes, an octopus! I'm glad they told me when we reached land as I believe I would have freaked and swam in the opposite direction faster than Ian Thorpe!

Schooner Island from the sail boat

On Schooner Island

Washed up coral

The time in Fiji was spent relaxing, recharging, swimming in the pool, little tanning, taking part in the trivia and bingo (I won a game!) and reading. I managed to get through two books and by the last day there, I had no book to read. Lucky for my iPad and the internet, I spent my day surfing the internet working out my next holiday destination and when in the year is the perfect time to go. Oh, I love to travel and it's been a while so back on the travel wagon to explore places I haven't been, seen or experienced. So exciting!

One of the books I read….totally recommend reading it.

My overall summary of Fiji….. It's a great place to go visit for a short break, 5 days or so and that's it; especially if you're just there with a friend as there isn't much to do in Fiji. Getting to Fiji is relatively cheap but once you're there it can get expensive with food and day trips. Suggest to eat at Port Denauar as there are more variety and the cost is so much cheaper. However, I would say that Fiji is a perfect place for families to go to as they really do cater for kids and there is so much to do with kids during the day.

It was a perfect little trip to recharge, relax and refocus what I want to do next year with regards to travel. It was amazing to get away from the hectic life of everyday work and to not think about the reality and just enjoy the slower pace of life where time and day doesn't matter. 

Sunsets here are amazing!

Thank you Fiji! 

Jo xo

PS - Yes, as mentioned in my previous post "Bula from Fiji", China's President, Xi Jinping, was staying at our resort. It was hectic, there were scanner machines, lots of local and Chinese security, local police and his entire entourage including his cook and butler!

Shenkin Eatery

Another top weekend we had! After a much needed sleep-in on Sunday morning I met my beautiful girlfriend for what I was hoping to be brunch but according to my iPhone clock it was lunch time already! It's Sunday, so time doesn't matter and if there is a cafe serving brunch items all day then it's a winner in my book! 

Due to our intensive starvation situation we went to have brunch/lunch at the Shenkin Eatery that is located on Crown Street, Surry Hills. A lovely little local cafe for me and I absolutely adore them. 

The Shenkin family has always been in the inner west so to have them located in Surry Hills is a special bonus for us living in the inner city of Sydney (although it still didn't stop me going inner west as I do love it there). The family consists of Shenkin in Erskinville, Shenkin Esspresso in Newtown and Shenkin Kitchen on Enmore Road. 

The food focuses on Australian and, their heritage, Israeli palate and I must say, that's the part I like the most. Anyone can do bacon and eggs but bacon and eggs with a twist is what gets my taste buds excited and dancing for more. 

The menu is decent and provides a good size of options without having too many items or too little. The coffee there is tasty as well and the service is top notch with staff constantly making sure you're happy and comfortable. The atmosphere is casual and the design on the cafe is very cool rustic with wooden tables and steel stools. 

To start, I ordered an ice coffee and my friend had a bottled orange juice. I'd love for them to do fresh juices especially with summer coming (*cheeky hint*) but being a coffee girl I'm satisfied! I then ordered the "The Bite" and my friend ordered the "Sliders".

My dish was devine and consisted of pan-fried mushrooms, poached egg & avocado falafel served with sourdough bread, mixed lettuce and Allenby sauce. Oh, that "Allenby" sauce is to die for! I wanted to bottle it and take it home. 

The Bite with the amazing Allenby sauce drizzled all over

The Sliders

A very decent serve of food by Shenkin; you seriously don't walk out of there feeling hungry or disappointed and the flavours are delicious and go together very well. 

To the Shenkin family ~ thank you for opening up in Surry Hills and sharing your talents with us inner city peeps. I love your food and customer service and will be frequenting more often! 

Jo xo

Where's Wally?…On Cockatoo Island

Where's Wally?….I think we saw him at the Island Bar on Cockatoo Island! Dressed in a red and white stripe top, denim shorts, white trainers and the classic round black glasses our group of seven was dressed as Where's Wally made our way through the city centre of Sydney to board a private ferry from King St Wharf and headed over to Cockatoo Island for an afternoon of workplace team building.

I don't usually take the ferry in Sydney but when I do, like on this day, it reminds me of being a kid going on a journey with school or my parents and I absolutely love it when the ferry rocks from side to side. For many others, I think I makes them a little sea sick, but for me, the feeling is therapeutical and so much fun!

Everyone were in group of around seven people and being Halloween each group were encouraged to dress up in Halloween costumes. It was amazing to see the amount of effort everyone put into dressing up and really coming together as a team. There were zombies, mummies, pirates and witches disembarking onto Cockatoo Island for an afternoon of treasure hunting. 

When we first arrived onto the island, we were greeted by the island rangers for a quick briefing and housekeeping and a warning that it is currently seagull mating season! There is a section of there island where many seagulls come to mate and have their babies and can tend to be very protective which means they will swoop at you if they feel that you're a threat to their surroundings. With this additional information and location, we made sure we stayed away or at least protected our heads!

The weather was absolutely amazing. The sun came out to play and felt like a true summers day in the middle of spring; we couldn't complain at all. We made our way to the Island Bar where we were treated to lunch before starting the team building game. The food at the Island Bar was really tasty and plentiful; to start with they brought out plates of antipasti, cured meats, flat bread and various panini's. Then boxes of different types of wood-fire pizzas arrived - let the carb loading begin! I must admit, the pizzas were very tasty and if I had more room in my stomach, I would have gone back for more!

Wood-fire pizzas

After lunch we then worked together in our groups to start the treasure hunt. Each team were provided with a map and the first five of ten questions we needed to answer. We had 90 minutes to complete the hunt and basically, as a group, you had to correctly answer the questions and the fastest team to complete the hunt with all questions answered correctly were the winner - simple! 

I would say, having a couple of very competitive team members in your team really helps with the game as well as someone who is willing to run (in the heat) the information back to the judges also helps. The hunt really allowed us to explore the island and find out some information about the island such as the two previous names Cockatoo Island was known, the number of tents on the island and the various buildings around the island. It also made us work together as a team to find and work through the information as well as coming together to take a "selfie" at each location to prove that we did go to that particular location as a team.

We initially hit a little hiccup on the first leg of the hunt where one of our answers was incorrect but quickly as a team we managed to get the answer to the judges fast and obtained the second set of questions. We then took off as quickly as possible and the heat was seriously beaming down on us and of course this leg of the hunt involved a little more running. We managed to work through the questions very quickly even with other teams trying to sabotage us!

Where's Wally?

With our last question answered, our team captain, who was also the runner, ran our answers back to the judges while the rest of the team walked back to the Island Bar and discussed our potential winning prize. The prize was a $500 donation to a charity of choice so as a team we had to discuss and decide on a charity that we wanted to donate the money too. At first, I thought that this would be a hard discussion to have as a team as each person, including myself, would have their own charity of choice and to choose only one, and which one, would be difficult as all charities are deserving of the donation. However, as a team and being the month of October, Cancer month here in Australia, we decided to donate, if we'd won, the money to the Cancer Council. Cancer Council was chosen because we wanted the donation to cover all types of cancer rather than a specific one such as breast cancer.

When the team arrived to the Island Bar, where the judges were, we walked in realising that we were the only team back with the awesome news that we had all the questions right! Being the first team back and having all the questions right meant that we were the WINNERS! The ironic thing about being the first team back and finding out that you're the winner was that the other teams were still out hunting so there wasn't anyone there to see that we had won. However, that didn't stop us from celebrating, screaming and dancing around as winners do.

The Island Bar

As winners, it was then fitting for us to take some "winners" photo shots for the internal newsletter and then sit down to relax with a drink as we waited for the other teams to arrive back. The rest of the afternoon was spent with everyone enjoying a couple of drinks, some more food and soaking up the summer heat and just catching up with everyone outside of the office environment. 

Time to relax.

If you haven't been to Cockatoo Island, I totally recommend that you go there. It's a very short ferry ride from Circular Quay, Darling Harbour and even Balmain and with summer coming it's a perfect place to go with family and friends for a relaxing day of exploring and chilling at the Island Bar. I know where I'll be hanging out this summer!

Hope you had an awesome Halloween!

Jo xo