25 Dec 2013 - 27 Dec 2013 (Batam Trip)
Booked Groupon deal for 2D1N Nagoya One Hotel stay at SGD 29 per pax.
It includes hotel stay with complimentary breakfast, half day city guided tour, Indonesian lunch buffet, pick up by the van from ferry jetty to hotel & hotel to ferry jetty.
We also extended 1 more night stay --> 3D2N for another SGD 50 for 2 pax.
Ferry surcharge from SG to Batam is SGD 20/pax.
Ferry surcharge from Batam back to SG is Rupiah 65,000/pax
Compulsory tipping for tour guide & driver is SGD 2/pax.
We changed Rupiah 950,000 with SGD 100.25 (@ Rupiah 9,475 : 1 SGD) per pax.
On that day of departure, kiasu Germ changed another SGD 50 for Rupiah 470,000 (@ Rupiah 9,400 : 1 SGD) for fear that she doesnt have enough to pay for the ferry surcharge later on.
25 Dec 2013
6.45am >> left Germ's house to wait for taxi to Harbourfront Centre cuz both sleepyheads don't wanna wake up early :p
7.15am >> reached Harbourfront Centre. Collected boarding pass, walked around to change money and then head to holding area. Shopped ard the DFS and realised that 3D2N to Batam = can purchase liquor when coming back *yippie*
The ferry ride to Batam was pretty fast, ~30 minutes only. The ferry didnt make Germ giddy surprisingly (cuz when Germ was younger, her last trip to Batam she kena motionsickness due to the swaying of the ferry).
Upom reaching Batam, the queue at the immigration clearance was super looooooong. Queued till QAD kpkp. He said next time if go Batam again, must chiong to alight and queue to clear immigration. LOL !
The van which picked us up was called Best Batam. Our assigned van was number 02. The tour guide serving us was called Florence. Basically, she knows Bahasa Indonesia, Mandarin & English.
Thought the van was gonna take us to hotel straight but I misread and forgot about the city tour. Boring die Germ.
Were taken to >>
1) House of Chocolate. According to Florence, the specialty is Tiramisu chocolate. And over there in Batam, buying their local product is way cheaper than those branded imported ones. This I agree. Actually the Tiramisu not bad. But QAD like dunwan to eat + the shop was insanely crowded as 4 vans of tourists like us were thrown there so we left the shop.
2) Kueh Lapis shop. Original whole kueh lapis cake cost SGD 25. They've got Chocolate Marble flavour, Butter & some other flavours which I cant remember. Price range is SGD 25 - 38 ard there. Didnt buy any cuz didnt bring along so much SGD also. And why on earth that shop accepts SGD only leh? Out to tok tourist bah. But it's really hard work seeing the bakers bake the layer cakes. Every 3 minutes they have to bake 1 layer. In comparison, it definitely is cheaper there as compared to SG lah!
Next to the Kueh Lapis shop there's a shop selling Bird Nest. They even have freshly cooked ones for tourists to sit in and consume.
3) 2 minutes drive away from the Kueh Lapis shop we were brought to watch some cultural dance by their locals. They even performed glass eating acts & jumping over fire rings. We were both sian of boarding & alighting and decided to stay inside the van to watch the performance instead of going out to feed mosquitoes. Those who went out to watch the performance had to give a token of appreciation (a bit like kena forced also de).
4) Went to the biggest temple on Batam island. QAD wanted to go down to take pics but Germ too lazy le (as always) so we stayed on board and koon.
Throughout the bus ride, Germ just koon & koon. Until we were taken to the restaurant for lunch. Food!!!! Not sure if we've been taken to any other places after pt 4 cuz Germ really koon till shiok shiok le.
After lunch, went to factory outlet shop which sells Polo Ralph tees, DC tees, Superdry tees etc. 1 tee cost 170,000 Rupiah. Germ bought 4 for her siblings. Opposite the road there's batik shop (but boring there lah). Bought a bottle of Pocari Sweat at the souvenir shop for 8,000 Rupiah. Walked 3 shops down, at their convenience store, saw the same Pocari selling for 6,000 Rupiah. Think it's cheap? Later on at supermarket saw them selling at 4,400 Rupiah nia lor =.=
Next, we went for traditional full body massage. It cost 18 SGD. Not bad la, cheap le compared to SG. Massage till we sleep and snore @.@ Had to tip the masseurs after the massage. Gave SGD 2 to her as tip. Was served piping hot Ginger tea before leaving. Spicy lor!!!! The tea was too hot for QAD so he didnt drink. Hahahha~
Checked-in to hotel after that and it's Free & Easy time. We napped till 7+ then went out to get food. Oh, Batam is hour slower than SG time. There's shuttle bus service from our hotel to Nagoya Hil Shopping Centre but since we missed the previous bus, the next bus we gonna have to wait for 45 min =.= the bus ride to the shopping mall will take only 10 min so we decided to walk out on our own and explore a bit.
Walked around and saw 3 storeys KFC building. Next next to the KFC building is 3 storeys McDonalds building. Then we came to a street like pasar malam de. QAD bought Satay. The stall owner gei siao de. Said 10, but when we paid 20,000 rupiah, no change was given. After a few encounters, we know they'll conveniently not provide any change if amount isnt too big.
Had Magnum ice cream at Circle K convenience store. Cost only 13,000 Rupiah (~ SGD 1.50?)I bought Magnum Gold, QAD got the one with Almond.
26 Dec 2013
Guess what time we woke up? 3pm !!!!!! Hahahaha~ missed breakfast lor >.< but that hotel's TV channel A LOT of programs! We watched Tom & Jerry la, those Chinese Movies la, CSI etc etc
Washed up le and set out. Today's aim was to go Nagoya Hill shopping centre. Walked out and buy Magnum again!! We both bought the Magnum Infinity. Super nice lor!!! We ate as we walked and dropped the chocolate coating everywhere LOL!
Finally we found Nagoya Hill Shopping Centre! Their A&W is 2 storeys high. Got bubbletea shop le so I chiong ahhhhh! The shop is called Chaleaf. But not up to standard leh =( Anyway we had A&W's waffle, Root Beer Float & Curly fries =D
2nd floor of Nagoya Hill SC got more bubbletea shops! Shihlin also got! And a lot more classier snack place. But we were full from the A&W liao >.< shopped around for Liverpool jersey but never find anything which QAD wants. Saw their arcade upstairs, got UFO catcher which can catch cigarettes. Cigarettes?!?!?!
Finished walking, we went back to hotel. OTW back, bought Magnum again! Cuz cheap mah! Must eat till shiok!!! I bought the classic de, QAD got the Truffle de.
Rested awhile and we went out for supper. QAD got craving for fresh coconut juice. Had that for 15,000 rupiah. 1 whole coconut all by himself. Then went to eat seafood by the roadside. Ordered Sambal Sotong, Sotong Goreng smth smth (machiam fried calamari la) & Indomie Goreng. All for 57,000 Rupiah only. And the servings of the sotong quite generous lor! We reckon 1M rupiah we can eat for few weeks ^^
Before going back to hotel for the night, went to dabao Mc D. What is Mc D? Something like our old Mc Crispy. Fried chicken. Been wanting to try that since the previous night. Cost 26,000 Rupiah.
Oh, and I didnt mention, everywhere we went, got ppl call out to us asking if we need taxi. Those personal cars, personal vans, even motorbikes all shouting "taxi? taxi?" Walao we where dare to board sia. Later drive us to dunno where how?
Nearby our hotel, we stopped by a mini shop and played with kittens. QAD so happy to sayang those cutie furkids.
Then, just a minute walk away from our hotel, something unfortunate happened T.T
1 motorist rode silently from behind and tried to snatch my Longchamp bag forcefully. As we were near our hotel liao and chatting away leisurely, our guards were down. Everything happened so quickly and the whole ordeal took less than 15 seconds. Didnt even have time to react. All I know was I lost my balance and fell when that damn fucker tugged forcefully at my bag, causing my QAD to fall down as I tripped him. My first thought was "someone trying to snatch my bag. cham liao". But I was still clinging on to my bag (maybe cuz I didnt wanna fall bah). And as a result, was dragged by the motorbike for a distance. Was wondering how far I'd be dragged. Looked up and my vision can only see my bag lor. And can also see my feet being dragged across the sandy road. Heng, after a while that fucker gave up and let go. Saw my QAD being flung in front of my eyes. For a moment I hoped it was just a scene taken out of a drama. Still pretty shakened. Struggled to stand up but knees were bleeding and sibei painful. QAD went mad and chiong to chase after that fucker. He thought our stuffs were snatched and thus boarded some stranger's car. I was sooooo damn worried after he failed to return after quite some time. What if something bad happened to him? Haiz~ but the strangers who helped him were kind ones ^^ They sent him to the police station and brought him back to the hotel.
Kelvin's friend Xuan who resides in Batam very kindly took us to their local private hospital. Starting Qad & I were wondering how to finish spending our balance Rupiah cuz mummy says not to keep their $ as they suka suka will change de. In the hospital, we spent all our Rupiah there. Still not enough, must change with Xuan for 100,000 Rupiah. Haiz~ suay lah hor?
In the end I didnt get to eat the Mc D cuz no mood le plus pain so gave to the hotel lobby staff who attended to my injuries before I went hospital.
Finally the next day, back to SG.
2 days MC + 2 days MC. MC all the way till next year then resume work le. Luckily QAD has been keeping me accompanied these few days. So not so pain =) but he himself wincing away in pain cuz he suffered from many scratches on all his limbs. Poor thing =(
It includes hotel stay with complimentary breakfast, half day city guided tour, Indonesian lunch buffet, pick up by the van from ferry jetty to hotel & hotel to ferry jetty.
We also extended 1 more night stay --> 3D2N for another SGD 50 for 2 pax.
Ferry surcharge from SG to Batam is SGD 20/pax.
Ferry surcharge from Batam back to SG is Rupiah 65,000/pax
Compulsory tipping for tour guide & driver is SGD 2/pax.
We changed Rupiah 950,000 with SGD 100.25 (@ Rupiah 9,475 : 1 SGD) per pax.
On that day of departure, kiasu Germ changed another SGD 50 for Rupiah 470,000 (@ Rupiah 9,400 : 1 SGD) for fear that she doesnt have enough to pay for the ferry surcharge later on.
25 Dec 2013
6.45am >> left Germ's house to wait for taxi to Harbourfront Centre cuz both sleepyheads don't wanna wake up early :p
7.15am >> reached Harbourfront Centre. Collected boarding pass, walked around to change money and then head to holding area. Shopped ard the DFS and realised that 3D2N to Batam = can purchase liquor when coming back *yippie*
The ferry ride to Batam was pretty fast, ~30 minutes only. The ferry didnt make Germ giddy surprisingly (cuz when Germ was younger, her last trip to Batam she kena motionsickness due to the swaying of the ferry).
Upom reaching Batam, the queue at the immigration clearance was super looooooong. Queued till QAD kpkp. He said next time if go Batam again, must chiong to alight and queue to clear immigration. LOL !
The van which picked us up was called Best Batam. Our assigned van was number 02. The tour guide serving us was called Florence. Basically, she knows Bahasa Indonesia, Mandarin & English.
Thought the van was gonna take us to hotel straight but I misread and forgot about the city tour. Boring die Germ.
Were taken to >>
1) House of Chocolate. According to Florence, the specialty is Tiramisu chocolate. And over there in Batam, buying their local product is way cheaper than those branded imported ones. This I agree. Actually the Tiramisu not bad. But QAD like dunwan to eat + the shop was insanely crowded as 4 vans of tourists like us were thrown there so we left the shop.
2) Kueh Lapis shop. Original whole kueh lapis cake cost SGD 25. They've got Chocolate Marble flavour, Butter & some other flavours which I cant remember. Price range is SGD 25 - 38 ard there. Didnt buy any cuz didnt bring along so much SGD also. And why on earth that shop accepts SGD only leh? Out to tok tourist bah. But it's really hard work seeing the bakers bake the layer cakes. Every 3 minutes they have to bake 1 layer. In comparison, it definitely is cheaper there as compared to SG lah!
Next to the Kueh Lapis shop there's a shop selling Bird Nest. They even have freshly cooked ones for tourists to sit in and consume.
3) 2 minutes drive away from the Kueh Lapis shop we were brought to watch some cultural dance by their locals. They even performed glass eating acts & jumping over fire rings. We were both sian of boarding & alighting and decided to stay inside the van to watch the performance instead of going out to feed mosquitoes. Those who went out to watch the performance had to give a token of appreciation (a bit like kena forced also de).
4) Went to the biggest temple on Batam island. QAD wanted to go down to take pics but Germ too lazy le (as always) so we stayed on board and koon.
Throughout the bus ride, Germ just koon & koon. Until we were taken to the restaurant for lunch. Food!!!! Not sure if we've been taken to any other places after pt 4 cuz Germ really koon till shiok shiok le.
After lunch, went to factory outlet shop which sells Polo Ralph tees, DC tees, Superdry tees etc. 1 tee cost 170,000 Rupiah. Germ bought 4 for her siblings. Opposite the road there's batik shop (but boring there lah). Bought a bottle of Pocari Sweat at the souvenir shop for 8,000 Rupiah. Walked 3 shops down, at their convenience store, saw the same Pocari selling for 6,000 Rupiah. Think it's cheap? Later on at supermarket saw them selling at 4,400 Rupiah nia lor =.=
Next, we went for traditional full body massage. It cost 18 SGD. Not bad la, cheap le compared to SG. Massage till we sleep and snore @.@ Had to tip the masseurs after the massage. Gave SGD 2 to her as tip. Was served piping hot Ginger tea before leaving. Spicy lor!!!! The tea was too hot for QAD so he didnt drink. Hahahha~
Checked-in to hotel after that and it's Free & Easy time. We napped till 7+ then went out to get food. Oh, Batam is hour slower than SG time. There's shuttle bus service from our hotel to Nagoya Hil Shopping Centre but since we missed the previous bus, the next bus we gonna have to wait for 45 min =.= the bus ride to the shopping mall will take only 10 min so we decided to walk out on our own and explore a bit.
Walked around and saw 3 storeys KFC building. Next next to the KFC building is 3 storeys McDonalds building. Then we came to a street like pasar malam de. QAD bought Satay. The stall owner gei siao de. Said 10, but when we paid 20,000 rupiah, no change was given. After a few encounters, we know they'll conveniently not provide any change if amount isnt too big.
Had Magnum ice cream at Circle K convenience store. Cost only 13,000 Rupiah (~ SGD 1.50?)I bought Magnum Gold, QAD got the one with Almond.
26 Dec 2013
Guess what time we woke up? 3pm !!!!!! Hahahaha~ missed breakfast lor >.< but that hotel's TV channel A LOT of programs! We watched Tom & Jerry la, those Chinese Movies la, CSI etc etc
Washed up le and set out. Today's aim was to go Nagoya Hill shopping centre. Walked out and buy Magnum again!! We both bought the Magnum Infinity. Super nice lor!!! We ate as we walked and dropped the chocolate coating everywhere LOL!
Finally we found Nagoya Hill Shopping Centre! Their A&W is 2 storeys high. Got bubbletea shop le so I chiong ahhhhh! The shop is called Chaleaf. But not up to standard leh =( Anyway we had A&W's waffle, Root Beer Float & Curly fries =D
2nd floor of Nagoya Hill SC got more bubbletea shops! Shihlin also got! And a lot more classier snack place. But we were full from the A&W liao >.< shopped around for Liverpool jersey but never find anything which QAD wants. Saw their arcade upstairs, got UFO catcher which can catch cigarettes. Cigarettes?!?!?!
Finished walking, we went back to hotel. OTW back, bought Magnum again! Cuz cheap mah! Must eat till shiok!!! I bought the classic de, QAD got the Truffle de.
Rested awhile and we went out for supper. QAD got craving for fresh coconut juice. Had that for 15,000 rupiah. 1 whole coconut all by himself. Then went to eat seafood by the roadside. Ordered Sambal Sotong, Sotong Goreng smth smth (machiam fried calamari la) & Indomie Goreng. All for 57,000 Rupiah only. And the servings of the sotong quite generous lor! We reckon 1M rupiah we can eat for few weeks ^^
Before going back to hotel for the night, went to dabao Mc D. What is Mc D? Something like our old Mc Crispy. Fried chicken. Been wanting to try that since the previous night. Cost 26,000 Rupiah.
Oh, and I didnt mention, everywhere we went, got ppl call out to us asking if we need taxi. Those personal cars, personal vans, even motorbikes all shouting "taxi? taxi?" Walao we where dare to board sia. Later drive us to dunno where how?
Nearby our hotel, we stopped by a mini shop and played with kittens. QAD so happy to sayang those cutie furkids.
Then, just a minute walk away from our hotel, something unfortunate happened T.T
1 motorist rode silently from behind and tried to snatch my Longchamp bag forcefully. As we were near our hotel liao and chatting away leisurely, our guards were down. Everything happened so quickly and the whole ordeal took less than 15 seconds. Didnt even have time to react. All I know was I lost my balance and fell when that damn fucker tugged forcefully at my bag, causing my QAD to fall down as I tripped him. My first thought was "someone trying to snatch my bag. cham liao". But I was still clinging on to my bag (maybe cuz I didnt wanna fall bah). And as a result, was dragged by the motorbike for a distance. Was wondering how far I'd be dragged. Looked up and my vision can only see my bag lor. And can also see my feet being dragged across the sandy road. Heng, after a while that fucker gave up and let go. Saw my QAD being flung in front of my eyes. For a moment I hoped it was just a scene taken out of a drama. Still pretty shakened. Struggled to stand up but knees were bleeding and sibei painful. QAD went mad and chiong to chase after that fucker. He thought our stuffs were snatched and thus boarded some stranger's car. I was sooooo damn worried after he failed to return after quite some time. What if something bad happened to him? Haiz~ but the strangers who helped him were kind ones ^^ They sent him to the police station and brought him back to the hotel.
Kelvin's friend Xuan who resides in Batam very kindly took us to their local private hospital. Starting Qad & I were wondering how to finish spending our balance Rupiah cuz mummy says not to keep their $ as they suka suka will change de. In the hospital, we spent all our Rupiah there. Still not enough, must change with Xuan for 100,000 Rupiah. Haiz~ suay lah hor?
In the end I didnt get to eat the Mc D cuz no mood le plus pain so gave to the hotel lobby staff who attended to my injuries before I went hospital.
Finally the next day, back to SG.
2 days MC + 2 days MC. MC all the way till next year then resume work le. Luckily QAD has been keeping me accompanied these few days. So not so pain =) but he himself wincing away in pain cuz he suffered from many scratches on all his limbs. Poor thing =(