My trip to Batam was a breath-taking one
It wasn't that fantastic but a getaway to escape busy city life
I took a cab to Harbourfront to board the ferry.
Initially thought of taking mrt but to lessen the hassle
I rode a cab instead of moving around
Nearest mrt station : Harbourfront
Day 1
0730 : Boarded on Penguin Ferries
0830 : Depart (estimated time 40minutes)
0815 : Arrive at Sekupang International Ferry Terminal (Indon Time)
Tours highlight:-
Polo Outlet
As usual nothing cheap here and their quality don't look genuine at all to me. Half the shop selling Polo T shirt the other half selling fake LV purse, handbags and food makes people doubt it's products. I didn't buy anything from there.
Batam Chocolate House
Very crowded place where you can buy their local chocolates. Trust me, the same chocolate selling at convenient stores or hypermart will be cheaper than this place. As it was too crowded when I reached, 3 other tours were also there. I didn't buy anything then.
Indonesia Miniature Park And Go Kart
Just snapped a few pictures at the entrance of Miniature Park and ran to the shed. Nothing special as all the miniature houses looked the same to me. Go kart available @ $15 for 15minutes ride doesn't fit my appetite for the day as it was scorching hot afternoon and the vehicles are quite worn-out.
Golden Bay City
A place just next to Indonesia Miniature Park in fact it's just across the road. A lot of flies at the testing area for otah-otah and malay kuih.
Yong Heng Dry Market
Saw this seahorse on display used for medical purposes, rather sad such a beautiful creature was slaughtered to make medicine. Nothing here too but Singaporean in the same tour as mine were busy going around the shop trying to grab anything they could like sakai people going town.
Bird Nest Shop
Located at the entrance of Golden Prawn Seafood Restaurant basically showing you the process of separating bird nests. Not interested as I had already seen those in TV.
*****Break for lunch at Golden Prawn Seafood Restaurant
Journey continues...
Kuih Lapis Factory
Do not buy from the time local guide brought you here if you intend to stay longer in Batam. Their shop can be found all over Batam's shopping mall and even at ferry terminal. There is no need to rush for layers cake. I bought mine from Nagoya Hill Mall but seriously the layer cakes here aren't as good as Kuching's layer cake. The red coloured hair lady is our tour guide of the day. Love that colour, I can easily spot her from far haha..
Pondok Wisata Cultural Show
We skipped this show as nobody wanted to get down of our comfortable air-conditioned van.
Childish Ash and Sexy Misty Pokemon Set
The Smurf Set
Batik Factory Outlets
Nothing interesting as well. The batik here are pricey and I'm not a fan of batik so no-no. Instead of batik, they make profit by selling these miniature toys (i don't know what people called these haha).
Batam Shopping Mall (free and easy)
We were given bout an hour to shop here. This mall offers cheap clothes, bags, lady's accessories and of course KFC and Baskin Robin. We had our first KFC meal served with cornmeal soup. It was pleasant though and we enjoyed it.
*****Transfer and check into resort -
KTM Resort (BeachFront)
Standard double bed which is clean and tidy
Overlooking at the calm sea and a small lagoon
Upon arriving, we can see the beach and a lagoon in front of our room. I felt delighted and were happy with the room. It was clean and pleasant. The man offered to bring our luggage right up to our door and didn't request for tipping at all. The staffs are very friendly indeed.
Selfie with boy
Inevitably nice view
Had our dinner by the beach. It was a nice day and we had it for an hour in open air restaurant.
Oat Fried Prawn (7/10)
Corn soup (8/10), black pepper beef (7/10) kailan vege (7/10)
Orange and Avocado mix chocolate juices
Day 2
Boy checking out the stalls
Common western set
Woke up quite early for breakfast. Read from reviews the breakfast here not as good as you think of but you will have to experience it yourselves. I would say the breakfast here was decent and there were many options for you. Overall, I'm satisfied.
OOTD
Nagoya Hill Mall
It was free and easy day for us. We boarded a cab from our resort to the town for half an hour and it costs us $12 (one way). Had lunch at Cobain which is cheap and reasonable. Price is as shown on the receipt.
Located on the ground floor of Nagoya Shopping Mall, easily recognise from far
Our lunch set
Although it was dirt cheap but I can say it's good for us. However the portion might be small, you wouldn't bother to order another set because it is still cheap. Roamed around the mall and finally reaches the top floor and bought 2 movie tickets.
IDR 35k per ticket bout SGD4 per movie ticket (:
The screening hall was good and the chair was comfortable. Nice show though
Everyone was talking bout the A&W outlet at Batam so we decided to give it a try. Not bad but I'm not a fan of it so no big deal. We shared one set then. After that we shopped at the mall for a little while and bought a lot of stuffs which is cheaper than Singapore itself.
One of their famous signature drink is this Teh Botol. Taste okay not bad but nothing extraordinary to me though. You might want to try too cause it's cheap bout SGD 1.
Harbourfront Mall
Next, we headed to Harbourfront Mall. Sadly, it looked like an abandoned mall with only several shops opened. We took a cab from Nagoya to Harbourfront Mall for IDR60k which was not worth it at all. By the time we reached, it is just 3pm and we had to wait there till 6pm for dinner. And so, we went to try J&Co Donuts and used they wifi to check out the place.
After this meal we decided to wait no more. We went for a 1.5 hours of foot massage/reflexology costs us IDR95k each. During that massage session, there was a blackout and we left 15minutes early leaving the place covered in darkness.
Harbourbay Seafood
If you wished to have seafood feast and good ambience, then this place is the place for you. Located right beside the sea and a wide variety of choices on the left and right hand side between the rows of seafood restaurant. Many people recommended Wey Wey but I went to try the shop opposite it. Not bad but good for the price paid.
Hurried back to our resort to enjoy the last night here in Batam. Cab from this place to KTM resort is the standard price SGD12.
Boy enjoying sea breeze by the balcony
This place is cool but I'm so afraid of the heights
Day 3
We woke up early to get breakfast and to depart to Sekupang Ferry Terminal.
The soup noodle which was good and blant. I appreciate that though
1030 : Check out
1045 : Transfer to Sekupang Pier
1100 : Arrive
1130 : Depart back to Singapore
You must be wondering what we looted from Batam. Okay here you go, a dozens of Mee Sedap cup noodles (which is our favourite, only available in Indonesia) and some hand and body lotion as well as some titbits. I saw a Singaporean lady stock up body shampoo and hair shampoo as she claimed that it is much cheaper in Batam compared to Singapore. Well, I don't want to carry heavy load back to Singapore so I ignored the price then.
Maybe I won't go to Batam again because I found that they have very poor transportation system and cabbing really costs a lot more than you can think of. Do not buy things/food from the stalls by the roadside if you are unsure of the prices. You might get cheated because they knew you are tourists.
Last but not least, take care of all your belongings which you are at Batam and enjoy your holiday.
