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lundi, mai 27, 2013

♥ Batam Trip (Updated with ugly pictures)

Ferry - Sindo Ferry ($47/pax)
-- Batam Centre Ferry Terminal & Waterfront Ferry Terminal
// standard ferry, not very fantastic, wouldn't mind going on other ferry agencies. BUT also depends on where you stay, Holiday inn / Harris resort = Waterfront = Sindo. Nagoya area = Harbourbay = Batamfast
BatamFast goes to - Sekupang, Batam Centre, Nongsa, Harbourbay
Sindo goes to - Sekupang, Batam Centre, Tanjung ??, Waterfront

Resort - Holiday Inn Resort Batam ($341.22 for 2 nights)
-- 2 Bedroom Suite Apartment, 10th Floor, Not Facing Pool
// Welcome Drink, Free Wifi only available in Lobby, Free Shuttle Buses to Nagoya Hills Shopping Centre & Waterfront Ferry Terminal, 5 min drive away from Harris Resort Batam, approx 8 min drive away from entrance of Waterfront Area.

Local Driver - Tour from batamrentcar.com ($85/day)
-- Whole Day, Driver fluent in Bahasa, Moderate English Language
// He brought us to popular places in Batam - resort, makan places, sightseeing. Will help if you have a slight idea of where you wanna go..

Total - $153.60 (3D2N, 24th May - 26th May)

Rate - Rp7600 = $1

Journal:
24th May, Friday (Time stated based on Singapore Time / GMT +8)
Had breakfast at McDonalds' and was encouraged by Serene's uni application (after i told her about my job offer)! Really God's timing and favour! Check in and board ferry at 1130am and reached Batam Centre Ferry Terminal at 1pm..
 We took Sindo 10, to Batam Centre.



The custom queue at Batam was crazy long. we were the last 20 (or so) that got off the ferry cos we were sitting upstairs.. and by the time we reached indoor, there were still rows of "snakes" to queue, the number of counter were probably less than 8 la!
 Queueing and waiting...
 More queueing and waiting...


by the time our passports were stamped and checked, we left Batam Centre and took a cab to Holiday Inn at 310pm! Reached the Resort at 350pm, around 40 min long.



 Lobby Counter
View of Resort from outside...

Placed our bags down and went for a walk opposite resort. 
(Well, i shant say anything) but we had late lunch at one of the shops there around 5pm. 
Ayam Penyet (Rp15,000), 
Nasi Goreng Special (Rp20,000), 
Mee Soto (Rp12,000), 
(Cans) Milo and Coke (Rp7,000 each), 
Soya Bean (Rp5,000). 
Quite nice and affordable :) and there was this annoying black cat that kept meowing and begging for food. I've learnt my lessons well in S'pore, never fear such animals! ignore ignore ignore. 
 Ayam Penyet! very little :(  but still yummy~
Stop meowing!

Returned to resort by 6pm as the shuttle bus leaves for Nagoya Hills Shopping Centre at 6pm and returns at 945pm (all Singapore Time, just minus an hour for Batam time). It's also around 40 min to and fro, so we just slept on the ride.. Reached Nagoya Hills at 645pm and chiong to Hypermart. Did lots of grocery shopping and we spent a total of Rp836,380 (close to $110). mad.

We had A&W for dinner - 2pcs chicken, twister fries and upgrade root beer float at Rp60,000 each set. we had 2 sets and shared. 3 words, not worth it. just go there and drink root beer float and eat Pizza Hut in future!

We were done eating by 850pm and sat there to use wifi and lepak till 930pm.. quite wasted, should had gone window shopping sia.. we reached resort around 1030pm and started sorting out the loots. can't believe i spent around Rp210,000 ($27 like that) and Naz spent less than Rp100,000! lepak and eat instant noodles, etc and bathe and blah.. slept around 3am..

25th May, Saturday (Time stated based on Singapore Time / GMT +8)
Woke up around 10am and had fruits and hotdog for breakfast. Hotdog bun had ants :( the driver arrived at 1130am and was rushing us but we werent ready yet! HAHA. anyways, when Serene and i wanted to leave at 1145am, realised that the lock of our door is spoilt! the door still can be opened without using the card, scared like what sia. so called and rushed the room service people to fix it asap but we needed to wait for them. by 12nn, no one came yet and the others was calling and rushing us already... but shortly after that, someone came and tried fixing. managed to lock the door, but guess what, we cant use our key to open, he cant use his key to open, WIN. so he reassured us that at least it's locked, we can go out, they will get people to fix. ok, we chiong lor. (just rmb this story...)

Then we went for our mini tour~
First stop - KTM Resort @ 1250pm
Very nice sea view, temple there but didnt enter.. sad thing, Serene's samsung S3 managed to slipped in between the wooden planks and plong, into the "sea". thankfully it's an enclosed area and it landed on a bed of rocks. but she literally jumped up and down and said "i dropped my phone in the sea!!!!" *epic* asked for help, thankfully it's a resort so people (as in security guards and staff, not tourists duh) quite helpful. after a while, somebody just "dived" in and got her phone! phew! hope her SD card not spoilt! Left the place at 140pm slightly burned, happy and sad! 



Gua gua gua... :/

2nd Stop - Lunch, Bandeong Resto kampeong soenda @ 215pm
Javanese Food, interesting restaurant! Toilet is really kampong style (only gave 1 hole, use water hose to rinse)!
Had Set A for lunch (Rp200,000) , which included Rice, Ayam Bakar (FAVOURITE), Gurame Goreng (Fried Fish, can literally eat the bones), Tahu & Tempe Goreng (i don't like...) , Fruits, Kailan, Chili and bottled water :)

 Where we sat..


We left around 330pm and asked the driver to decide our route. We decided on this:
Barelang Bridge, Shopping + Massage, Beach, Seaside / Kelong Dinner.

3rd Stop - Barelang Bridge @ 405pm
Probably one of the infamous views of Batam, had ice creams and photo shoots (LOL, kidding)! a lot of people, local and maybe not that much tourists.. left around 430pm.



The car that we 'rented'...
didn't take picture of this person selling ice cream, in e motorbike, and with the 'paddle pop' music as the background! eating ice cream during that quite scotching weather = shiok! magnum = Rp25,000
others = Rp20,000 each

4th Stop - Nagoya Hills @ approx 5pm
(Started to get a little annoyed by this timing alr, lol. maybe i cannot do long hours or PMS or just don't like how things happen huh)
Wanted to do massage but Eska Wellness' is full (and no back up plan = zzz) wanted to google but no wifi, i forgot about the list of stuff that i research on. so annoying. in the end, we searched for swimsuits but all ex, Rp300,000 (around $39). Darn annoying. Went down to Hypermart to buy instant noodles / stuff to buy. i bought 1 or 2 unnecessary stuff, total bill around Rp170,000 ($22) but best was Jennifer's loot! almost half of the trolley's plastic bags was hers and total up to around Rp400,000.. By then, Serene was still looking for swimwear, and a big canvas bag to keep all her zabalang! which after a while, we managed to find. Traffic at Nagoya Hills was so heavy that the driver only managed to pick us up at 740pm (we called around 715pm) 

Had to skip Nongsa Beach :( and massage (we did nothing at shopping centre sia) :(

5th Stop - Piccolo Beach Bar & Seafood  @ 815pm
We wanted to go to Harbour Bay Seafood Restaurant but there's a wedding and we can only sit inside (we wanted by the sea...) so we walked on, Wey Wey's people kept getting us to go but i kinda insisted on moving on to the other side. had better view and etc. We settled for Piccolo Beach Bar & Seafood.
Butter Prawn, Black Pepper Crab, Boiled Gong Gong, Stir Fry Kai Lan with Oyster Sauce and Sambal Scallop, total bill including drinks (shall not mention) was only Rp458,000! To me, the food was great! loved the butter prawn and black pepper crabs so much!! :) It was already very dark when we went, can't see stars cos of the lights, only see moon! and complimentary cat waiting for food again, not forgetting the 'Welcome Party' by the staff! 1 from seafood, drinks, grilled and other misc staff. Zzz i kind of regretted talking about some stuff over table, maybe should had waited or something. Hmm. Walked around and got back in the car around 945pm.

Last Stop - Holiday Inn Resort Batam @ 1030pm
Thanked and paid the driver (never take photo, wasted) and Serene and i chionged up to our room to use the toilet. Awkward is when 2 other couples were in the lift also and kept staring at the 5 plastic bags on my left hand, 1 plastic bag on my right hand and 1 big crumpler bag on my shoulders. plus it's all the keropok, biscuits (not mine), imagine the embarrassment sia... 10th floor, we reached our room and if you remember the earlier story... used our keys with high expectation and entry denied! WIN! WIN! 
no entry to room = win
super urgent, need to use toilet = WIN
1 lift spoilt (all along), another 1 lift kept getting stuck at 9th floor (we stay on 10th) = WIN!!
we carry so much zabalang and barang barang and have to go up and down = WIN!!!!
we met Naz at our lift lobby and went to the lobby and told the receptionist to solve our key problems! phew, it was done pretty fast and i have to say, the receptionists are really really helpful. just speak slowly, and be patient, and they will solve it la. 

Cut long story short.... we were all at the games room (and lobby again) and i "escaped" to go to the room to set up (HAHA). but everything was perfect later on! 
Naz was really shocked and surprised when she opened the door! (around 1245am) and i think i lied the most in this trip la.. but, fun and epic! pictures shall do the saying but i dont have them :)
 Balloons! :D

26th May, Sunday (Time stated based on Singapore Time / GMT +8)
Celebration until 245am before clearing and sleeping.. i slept around 4am! :/ but i woke up at 10am cos we all wanted to head down to the pool! quite fun with slides and etc, cozy and cooling! headed back to our room at 1130am and bathed and breakfast / lunch! LOL. lucky brought my chiong longchamp bag, so can stuff all the snacks in. checked out and realised that the cake is complimentary! #yippee. left  Resort at 130pm and our ferry is at Waterfront Ferry Terminal which is the nearest Ferry Terminal to Holiday Inn (less than 5 min drive lah). board by 155pm, and so little queue la. Ferry left at 215pm and went to Sekupang and Singapore by 335pm! Pretty good and so Jen and i decided to just take a cab back since no surcharge too!
Crazy amount of bags from a short trip..

Overall, value for trip = definitely worth it :)
Sightseeing = check
Makan = check
Room and facilities = check (Room Service and Receptionists helped A LOT especially with the cake and door lock issue)
Shopping = half check (wasted too much time at Hypermart, haiz)

Libellés : , , ,

God shows & teaches me love at...
2:12 AM


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