Telunas Beach Resorts Getaway

I had the privilege of getting a one week break in September since it was term break for the school kids and being a teacher, our holidays follow theirs. I definitely had to do a getaway from the hustle and bustle of life in Singapore, so I scouted for a nice, tranquil beach getaway and settled on the best deal possible! If you want an affordable over-the-water attap hut accommodation, this is the place for you!

Telunas Beach Resorts 

How to get there: Book a ferry from Singapore to Batam via Batamfast (if you come from anywhere else in the world, you can make your way to Sekupang ferry terminal!)

Telunas does a domestic transfer from Sekupang to their resort ONCE a day. You'll need to book the 11.10am ferry from Harbour Front to reach Sekupang at around 12.10. The Telunas staff will greet you outside the customs. Once everyone has passed through immigration customs, they will lead you to their speed sampan and off you go! It's a 1 hour 40 min ride there so they provide bottled water and an Apple per guest.

Meals at Telunas: It's buffet style, unless you happen to be the only guest there like I was! There are usually 5 dishes, fruits and desserts. The chefs are really creative with their food, so you won't ever get bored! The price of the full-board meals is not included in the accommodation. It's an additional 500k IDR per adult per night (that amounts to 50 sgd). Not the cheapest but it's mandatory.

Accommodation-style: I picked the most basic chalet and honestly, I felt that it was enough. Each room sleeps up to 4 people. 2 on the master bed and 2 on bunk beds. So it's extremely family-friendly. It was about 110 sgd per night!

Activities at Telunas:
There is a whole range of activities, ranging from free experiences to paid ones. Free ones include fishing (which I did a lot of), bonfire (they will do it for you on your last night), high deck jumping (it's 7m high and I was too scared to jump), low rope obstacle course (now that's fun!), and many other games like Tether ball, badminton, volleyball, corn hole etc. So you can just pick and choose which you prefer and let the hosts know!

The paid ones are kayaking, jungle walk to a waterfall, village tour. All these activities are included inside the price of the accommodation if you book the private island resort instead of the beach one. I chose not to go for any of them and relaxed at the beach and fished.

Personal thoughts:
I think I was really fortunate because during the week I was there, all the families were at the private island side, so I was the only one hanging out at the beach resort area, it felt more like a private island. The hosts were lovely, they even planned a candlelight dinner for us and made it into a surprise! Sadly we just finished out workout so I wasn't dressed appropriately for it.

I would highly recommend it to anyone who wishes for a short, quiet time as a family or as a couple, or even as an individual because the lovely hosts will warmly welcome you and accompany you to do all the activities you wish to do!

BBQ for the fishes we caught!

 The front deck

We saw a double rainbow! (Though the second is too faint)

Campfire night is always on the night before departure

[Japan: Kyushu self drive] - Kumamoto, Aso itinerary

We took a few days to travel round the Aso region in Kumamoto so we spent quite a bit of time driving in the mountains. It's a bit annoying because of all the bends, so people who get motion sickness easily should keep some sweets with them (or be the driver). The number of blind spots is insane, so drivers please take note!

Kokonoe Yume Suspension Bridge

It's a little touristy but I thought it was worth going because of the view and to take a look at how amazing engineers built such structures. It's cool because you can see the point where all the tension is concentrated on and how the alleviate it so that it won't snap. We took a short walk off the bridge to see a waterfall. There are food options there, though limited. Matcha ice cream saved the hot weather for me!

Kurokawa Onsen Village
Instead of staying there, we made a day trip to the town instead. I'm actually glad I didn't, because there isn't that much to do in the village except have a dip in a few onsens. You can purchase an onsen pass which allows you to go into about 3-5 onsens. Honestly, I had my private onsen in the airbnb so it didn't really matter. Instead, we found a couple of nice food places. It's easy to get around because you can just head over to the tourist information center to park and grab a map. Here are some places we found that were good:

• Patisserie Roku and Roll sells nice rolls for you to share or takeaway
• Dora dora shop (there's only one in the area)
• Senbei shop (also only one in the area)

Senbei shop

Doradora shop

Patisserie roku

A typical sight in Kurokawa

Kusasenri

We didn't go up Mount Aso because it was closed (due to seismic activity). Hence, I decided to try out this plain. You can choose to do horse riding there but it's about 40sgd per ride and I personally didn't think it was worth it. I did a little walking trail up Mt Eboshi and it took about 30-45 min to reach the top. I would say that the difficulty is roughly intermediate? It depends on how fast you wish to climb.

View from top of Mt Eboshi

Trying to squeeze through bushes on the trail

Takachiho Gorge

This was our last stop in the Mt Aso area before heading south. You should try the water slide soumen there! It's pretty popular in the area and makes it good fun for kids because they get to "play" with food. There is also a freshwater fish aquarium for fish-lovers like myself. Some cool stuff they have there is a hands on (literally) experience of kenko fish spa, sturgeons and salamanders. Other things you can choose to do would be a walking trail and a boat ride. I wouldn't go for the boat ride because it's rather short, but if you don't mind paying for a little romantic ride then do go ahead (:

Global Bar Vibes
This is situated in downtown Kumamoto, and I will honestly go back to Kyushu just to visit them again! It's owned by Nori-san, a Japanese who loves Shochu and will introduce the history of the drink and why he loves it. It's a very cozy bar. He named it glocal because he wanted it to be a bar that welcomes people from all over the world (global) and yet integrate them into the local culture. His concept is extremely strong in the things that you do. It's basically a place to drink, chill, make friends etc.

Accommodation Reviews:

Accommodation at Oguni-machi (Airbnb)

My original intention of staying at Kurokawa Onsen Village got thrown out of the picture once I found this hidden gem! It's owned by Kuniharu-san. He has a day job but his mum helps to maintain the account so she typically replies within a few minutes. It was slightly difficult to find since it's up in the mountains but I can guarantee you that it's soooo worth it! The view, the private open-air onsen, the fresh air made me want to retire there. They also gave us a wooden coaster when we left!


Firefly Festival
A random find thanks to staying at this place was the firefly festival we chanced upon! June is the firefly mating season, so places with streams and brooks will be full of these magnificent creatures. They're so tiny, yet they emit fluorescence and provide such a pretty view! Worth going to take a look if you're heading to Japan in June (:

Accommodation at Sanrinsha (Agoda)
The owner is a 70 year old man who manages the property alone. He only allows check in at 5pm and check out at around 10am. The place is very nice and quiet. The rooms are a little small - they basically accommodate beds and toilets are shared outside. There is an onsen room shared among all the guests. During my stay, there were 2 other couples, so we had to wait for our turn. Overall, the area is a cozy, very pretty and well maintained, off-the-main-road type of accommodation, if you're looking for this style of housing. It suited my overall theme for the trip but may not be everyone's cup of tea. The owner is extremely helpful and will draw maps and suggest food places for you.

[Japan: Kyushu self drive road trip] - Yufuin Onsen town

Theme: scenic drive up the mountains
Weather: summer

Day 1: Fukuoka-Yufuin
We arrived early in the morning! The first thing we did was to find where our car rental pickup was. We rented from rent-a-car.com because they were reasonably priced and had many outlets. Pickups for car rental from the airport are usually at the departure hall level. Exit the doors, turn to the right and walk towards the police post. The ride from the airport to the car rental area is free, so no worries about booking transport there! Fill in some paperwork and you're good to go! They have a selection of Mazdas to choose from, so take your pick online depending on your needs. We got a Mazda Demio! It's sufficiently big for two people with huge luggages. We had to put down the backseat since it's a hatchback, so limited bootspace.

We decided to head to our first accommodation immediately since the highways have tolls and it wasn't very worth it to keep exiting them. Like most highways, there are plenty of rest stops so there is no need to hold your pee in for long.

Our first night was at Yufuin town! It's a little town that is not as crowded as Beppu Onsen. We discovered that they're famous for their desserts! Many shops sold roll cakes, so I had a hard time deciding which to enter. In the end, settled on one that had a tea set (one roll cake + a drink!).

We took a walk round the town and chanced upon an Owl Village! The entrance fee is 600 yen per adult but I personally think it's worth it because it's not everyday that you get to see and touch owls at such close distances. The owls there are on short leashes and you're allowed to pet anyone you see except those with the sign that says "I'm new here!" They're so docile because it was in the day and they're nocturnal.

Finally made our way to the touristy Kinrinko lake (about a 10-15 min walk if you don't make stops). But we made many stops along the way and found small brooks off the beaten path! I'm the type that prefers unintentional and unexpected finds, so I enjoyed the walk up very much. Kinrinko lake is suitable for families or big groups of people who want to take group pictures with a nice mountain and lake background, because it's serene and pretty. However, if you're like me and you prefer random explorations, then the path to Kinrinko would have been more interesting than Kinrinko itself, though I spent some time observing the fishes.

Had an early dinner (due to the lack of a proper lunch) and chanced upon a restaurant offering dons (rice bowls) with Unagi (eel) and beef. They had an interesting way of eating it because they had many small side dishes and a teapot of soup. It is advisable to eat the rice bowl with various combinations of the side dishes and finally wash it down by pouring the soup in the bowl. I personally like the soup combination the best because the slightly more bland soup complements the claypot rice bowl flavour very well.

After heading back to the main part of the town, checking in and resting for a bit, we went out for supper! Most places in the small towns close early (before 7pm) so there weren't many options. But, the trusty yakitori (BBQ skewers) and beer places are always opened at these times. Again, we randomly found one that had really good quality food (somehow I think we're lucky that way!)

You can save the pin on Google maps:
お食事処龍庵
3056-16 Yufuinchō Kawakami, Yufu-shi, Ōita-ken 879-5102, Japan
+81 977-85-3879
https://goo.gl/maps/i5UDyN6D8WM2

Other places at Yufuin to check out:

Gallery Blue Ballen (Wooden art gallery selling table accessories) - Japan, 〒879-5102 Ōita-ken, Yufu-shi, Yufuinchō Kawakami, 1835-4

B-speak (Famous roll cakes!)

Accommodation: Sansoh Tsurunoyu Hotel, booked using Agoda
There are private onsens that you can use and just flip the sign outside to indicate occupied! And the futons are extremely comfortable. As it's a typical family-owned ryokan, breakfast is served at 8.30am and it's a full japanese course breakfast - rice, miso soup, mackerel, appetiser etc

Breakfast at Ryokan