Weekend short trip to Batam Island, Indonesia : D

Last weekend...5 of us went to Batam Island, Indonesia
for a weekend shortrip....hehe...how nice we can actually

just simply go Oversea whenever we feel like going

(Indonesia is still Oversea eh : )
Ferry ticket can be bought from Harbourfront centre
(alight at Marina Bay MRT station)...3rd floor
the ferry company we had chosen was Batam Fast....SGD47 for 2 ways ferry
(Harbourfront Centre-Batam Centre)...free seating...
Passport details are required when purchasing ticket...
the point to note is: Make sure u arrive at least 1 hour before ur
departure time...both when u r at Harbourfront or Batam Centre
cz u gonna be crazy when u see the looooong queue at the immigration check point
and the ferry might not wait for you : X

Kelvin Estee YikWei Me n Ordy

Harbourfront to Batam Centre
Batam centre is the central of the whole Batam Island

the street view of Batam Centre...all are low storeys shop lots
just like those kampung areas in Msia....

The first thing we did when we arrived at Batam was to EAT!
The taxi driver recommended us to eat the local famous
Yong Kee Fish Soup
(and it was also recommended by travellers who visited there by Googling)
About transportation....no worries cz there were lotsa taxi driver
offering to take you when you 1st step out of the Ferry Terminal
All we have to do is to know our distance and so we can bargain for it
Do some research online and also converted it to SGD and see whether you can
accept the taxi fare or not....
In fact....the restaurant was just like

15 mins driving distance away from the Ferry terminal
and we managed to ask for 25000 Rp for 5 persons in one taxi
(less than SGD1 per person!)

lolz....
We dare not say that we r from Spore cz afraid that later we kena "chop"
(cz we earnt SGD)

The drivers there....were more terror than Msia's driver
they turn without a need to look anywhere....just turn...("Just do it")
So....."enjoy" la haha....

The recommended dish by the waitress in the restaurant were
Seafood noodles and Fish soup noodles...
of cz you may wana try Tomyum too...
looking at the menu....it's just like what we had in Msia...
typical chinese dishes heh~kinda missed cz i barely have chance
to eat home cooked food with bunch of pple here

Prices are actually reasonable....until we curi-curi laugh : D
(We exchange SGD1: 6500Rp)

The interior of Yong Kee Restaurant

The founder and owner of the restaurant

Im kinda addicted to Avocado Honey drink when I
1st tried at Sun Moon at Raffles Place
seldom see Msia's fruit stall or elsewhere selling Avocado's juice
and I "infected" Ordy to become a fan of AH too : P
and also...seems like Avocado juice is also quite famous in Batam
so we ordered.......

the taste was fresh....duno how to describe...Avocado's taste lo :D

but in Batam they tend to add chocolate chips into it

local specialty?.....but i prefer without chocolate.....

This is the Seafood noodle soup.......26000Rp if not mistaken
the seafood...especially the prawns were SOOOOO fresh!

the Tomyum flavoured......
the taste is like abit different form Thai or Msia's tomyum
somehow.....it lacks abit of the sour taste....asam?
but still taste good...just that it's different

We also ordered Kangkung Belacan and Fried fish in Tepung
nice : )
5 of us ordered 5 bowls of noodles+2 dishes+5 fruit juice for 264,000Rp
Then we take a ride to Nagoya Hill
which is a shopping centre in Batam Centre

Batam Centre have several huge shopping centres...to my surprise
and the interior n exterior were not bad
though not 100% occupancy rate

Opposite of Nagoya Hill were many urban looking shoplots
most were One-stop centres for
salloon...manicure pedicure...SPAs...massages...

Inside Nagoya Hill

The shops inside Nagoya Hill....
were similar to Time Square KL or Sg. Wang
their departmental stall..called Matahari....
was similar to our Parkson some sort...
not bad also...
and to my 2nd surprise
the song in the air was Joanna Wang's English songs.....relaxing~

Then we checked in to Goodway Hotel...
it's a 4 stars hotel (it's official website said so)
and To my 3rd surprise.....NOT BAD ALSO!
actually it was abit impromptu cz the idea of going to Batam was just being raised
on Tuesday and the travelling day was on Saturday
so for the few days we were busy googling and searching everything
n i booked the hotel on Thursday itself...phew...
but at last...we manage to make it...
We booked 1 room (for 5 of us) with 2 twin size beds....one night for like SGD75
The hotel even have swimming pool....buffet breakfast...
internet in room (cable) and anothere thumbs up thing is:

to my 4th surprise it has
MANY TV Channels available! (the chineses' Phoenix Channel included!)
After a whole day walking here n there
we spent our Saturday night together with supper n GuessGuessGuess
in the hotel room.....chatting and laughters...
real relaxing...
After a short rest we started looking for food AGAIn
Im doubt whether it is Lunch?Tea or Dinner? cz it was around 3-4pm that time
but so long is everybody's stomach is available
How many meals or which meal it is...it doesn't really matter right?
This is our concept lol...
A tips if you would like to try out local things here:
Try to ask the locals that u dealt with: Hotel receptions...drivers...shopkeeper
which are the best place to eat seafood...do massage etc.
Different pple will have different suggestions but of course it will have
some common suggestions...
I mean...if u have no time to google much and malas to compare etc..just ask!
But one suggestion is: ask those who u are using their service (eg. taxi driver...
hotel workers etc)
Try ask goreng pisang seller where to eat best seafood when u
dun wana buy his food......you wont get any answer probably...
got what I mean : P

We did asked the hotel pple where to eat nice local food...
but somehow the locals'pronounciations...
though it's Bahasa Melayu but...kinda different with Bahasa Malaysia
they used to say "Kasi" instead of Terima Kasih
and we will always stare at them wondering for seconds before we get used to it
Thus...im doubt is this really the shop recommended by the hotel pple?
Ikan Bakar Pak N'Dut?
aih dun care la....we just go in...

New thing: the locals ate 1 ikan bakar per person!

You gotta choose ur ikan on the spot and ask them to either

Bakar or BBQ
Those fishes are Indon species and seldom available elsewhere
according to the seller la haha

At 1st we ordered only 1 ikan bakar n 1 vege for 5 of us....
cz in KL what we did is order 1 ikan bakar for all pple ma...
mana tahu the sellers all stared at us like in a kinda unbelievable expression
then ok lo...we ordered 2 fishes:
one with Ordinary Original Bakar
and another one Masak Asam Pedas

duno what is this called but it's quite nice~some sorta cili ..garlic etc...

Nah...these are the dishes where the locals in the shop ordered...so we did
I tell U.....the Ikan Bakar Original is a MUST TRY!
Real fresh and the bakar-ed taste was just nice!
(or maybe we were numbed by those tapao food outside food in Spore so
we were so into "primitive" food....?)
frankly...the taste of Ikan Bakar is "primitive" and original
(unlike Ikan Bakar in Msia which is more emphasised
in the sauce and flavour....)

make me think of the Flinstone...the guy who bakar ikan XD
The meal costs us 193,000Rp in total....fuyoh~

.

Then the hotel pple told us to eat seafood at Harbour Bay there
when we took taxi to Harbour Bay...the driver told us another place pulak
but Kelvin's research was the place would charge us SGD30 per head at least
so we stil opt for Harbour Bay there....
and dun be surprising when they keep saying "Siput"
their "Siput" means Seafood and dun misunderstand that it's real Siput (escargot?lol)
From Nagoya Hill to Harbour Bay Mall....another 25000 Rp also
but Harbour Bay Mall is abit far from Nagoya there...

around 15-20mins driving

There's Carrefour inside Harbour Bay Mall
spotted some different way of displaying goodies compared to
Carrefour Msia as well as Spore...so i snapped them

Remembered Dr. Amy Yeo of Strategic Management subject
told us that packaging strategy might be different in countries
cz some of the nations might only afford to buy stuff in small units
In Batam the shampoos are sold in packets...
of course there were also in bottles too~

Pakej Dahsyat! Really dahsyat!
Not even SGD1.00 per set!

Outside Harbour Bay Mall
Harbour Bay...Harbour Front...Water Front....sooooo confusing!

You gonna drop ur eyeballs when you know what we "sapu-ed" the most XD!

Sunset scenery nearby Harbour Bay
Seafood restaurants are all there~

4 fresh crabs+Prawns+sotong+Vege+虾婆+coconuts+rice
Each person less than SGD15.....(ard 500,000Rp)
Nice! Real Fresh!
Nobody is free to talk that moment haha

We did try out Pizza Hut in Batam...
(FYI...Pizza Hut in Spore sux compared to Msia's)
and Batam's Pizza Hut thumbs up!
i mean...in terms of the varities....i feel like stealing their menus back....

They have those Japanese' Dons in PizzaHut...
taste...i duno...but nice looking and at least it's available

Breadstick also~more varities

Pizza with Brocolli....1st time seen

and the side dishes look much more attractive

and they have these dessert-mixing stuff for kids...
i mean...not a big deal...but since Msia dun have it i guess...

Wahahaah........see what we bought....
4 of us grab at least 2 packets of sanitary pads each lol....cz each of it costs around SGD1
then Chokies-Chokies
Rabbit Sweet
Mi Sedap
etc.
and the Sustagen was mine too : )

There wasn't a "6th" person.....we used self-timer la haha

The next day we went for SPAs and massages opposite of Nagoya Hill
you can expect a cheapest massage at 50000 or 60000 Rp and

around150000 Rp you can definitey get a very good and hard massage
(if u are a massage addictor)
Then after massage....Ayam Penyet......the famous local meal in Indon
but ...the quantity ......not enough to feed my stomach....
haha
I like Raffles Place Ayam Penyet more : P

Overall it's an enjoyabe trip
no rush for the trip and we just kept hunting or food
a good runaway from boring city like LionCity (though we are not stress la)
i mean....though there weren't many attractions
but...it's a good experience to see new things
Can't wait for the next massage n i wana choose the
most exreme one next time!