Batam (Dec 2011)

Had my first trip to Batam last week with my gf. It was a 3D2N trip, which, according to my friends, is already a tad long for Batam. I found it all right though, because I have been feeling rather burnt out from work prior to the trip, so it was a good chance just to relax and do nothing. 

We purchased our trip via Groupon, so it was just $130 for 3D2N, inclusive of ferry, hotel, daily buffet breakfast, one seafood lunch, one massage, city & shopping tour, and the relevant fees (passenger departure fee, fuel surcharge, Batam terminal fee). Including the amount we spent there for shopping for food, the total bill came up to only $230 per pax.

Day 1

We had chosen the 740am ferry, and only realised that we had to collect our boarding pass 90 minutes prior to the trip, which means 610am. Since 90 minutes is probably a conservative buffer, we decided to reach Harbourfront Ferry Terminal by around 630am instead. After we collected the boarding pass, we had a quick breakfast at McDonald's before boarding the ferry.

When we reached there and got onto the bus, we were ferried to Polo Ralph Lauren shop. They were not really cheap (in absolute terms), in the general range of 450,000 to 650,000 rupiah (S$64.01 to S$92.46), so the whole tour group left in just five minutes. The next stop was to Diana Layer Cakes, a shop rather well known for their handmade kueh lapis. It was freshly made to order, so the tour guide helped to consolidate the orders, which would then be delivered to our hotel later. We weren't that interested in kueh lapis, so we didn't order any.

Diana Layer Cakes, well known for their handmade kueh lapis

Our group of mostly Singaporeans trying out samples of kueh lapis

The next stop was at Batam 1st Factory Outlet, which sells a decent variety of clothing like Armani Exchange, Hard Rock Cafe, Esprit, etc. We were given vouchers of 50,000 rupiah (S$7.11) which was only valid with a minimum spending of 200,000 rupiah (S$28.45). The clothes there were cheap, around 140,000 rupiah each (S$19.91), but they were not cheap to the extent that we would buy a lot. So we ended up buying just two t-shirts, which cost us around 115,000 rupiah (S$16.36) each after using the voucher.

Our package also included a 60-minute massage, so the guide brought us to Sawadika Refleksi Massage. We were given the option to upgrade our massage, but we didn't take it. The place was dimly lit, the floor was oily (from massage oils) and the thin mattress didn't look too clean. I hope it just looks old...

After the massage, we were brought to a local produce shop, which was selling lots of Indonesian prawn and fish crackers, and other snacks. We bought quite a lot of snacks to bring back to Singapore, and some of them, especially the fish crackers, were really good.

Lunch was at Golden Prawn 933 Restaurant, which was part of our package. I was initially quite skeptical of the "sumptuous 7-course fresh seafood lunch" that was written in our itinerary, but it turned out better than expected, albeit not fantastic. The lunch consisted of deep fried squid, sweet and sour fish, fried prawns, tofu vegetable soup, chilli crab, steamed sea snails, and vegetables. But what intrigued me more was the size of the restaurant - it was really huge. I think it can seat more than 1,000 people comfortably!

The restaurant stretches as far as the eye can see... well, almost.

We were looking forward to checking into the hotel after lunch, but apparently there were still some other events on the itinerary. There was a cultural dance, but thankfully no one was interested so the guide skipped it. There was also a visit to the Golden Go-Kart Centre and the Maha Vihara Duta Maitreya Temple, but by that time we were so hot and tired (only managed to get 4+ hours of sleep the night before) that we just remained in the bus.

The final stop before the hotel was Batam City Square, a big, relatively new and fully air-conditioned shopping mall. Had a bite at KFC, did a bit of shopping, then proceeded to the hotel, Mercure Batam Hotel.

When we checked in, we were quite surprised by how big the room was.

Our room at Mercure Batam Hotel

As seen from the picture, it was extremely spacious. The design, however, was rather old fashioned. The room was also a bit too dimly lit for my liking.

The bathroom. The shower head was a bit too low for my liking,
since I had to lower my head slightly while using it

It's a pity there was no wifi connection in the hotel room; wifi was only available at the lobby and restaurant. 

Day 2

Since we had the whole day to ourselves, we decided to take it easy. Had a late buffet breakfast at the hotel, before taking a cab to Nagoya Hill Shopping Mall. It's advisable to ask the hotel receptionist for a rough estimate of the fare so that you don't get ripped off by the taxi drivers. The hotel told us that it should cost around 30,000 rupiah (S$4.27). We were quoted 35,000 rupiah (S$4.98) which wasn't a big difference, so we took it.

Nagoya Hill Shopping Mall

They have A&W, which is already extinct in Singapore, so we had our lunch there. Love their curly fries and root beer float!

There was a cinema on the top floor, and it was showing just four movies - Trespass, Machine Gun Preacher, one local movie, and I can't remember the last one. Each ticket costs only 25,000 rupiah (S$3.56) so we bought two tickets for Trespass, since it was the only movie with recognisable actors (Nicholas Cage and Nicole Kidman). There was still around 1.5 hours to the movie, so we went to the several massage parlours just outside the shopping mall for a quick massage. Unfortunately, they were all full so we went to Godiva Coffee for coffee and wifi.

At first I was a bit worried about the cinema seats - this was Indonesia, not Singapore, so I thought the seats would be old and filthy. To our surprise, the seats were new, comfortable, and were high enough to provide a good headrest. I find the seats even better than Golden Village's in Singapore!

Trespass sucked, by the way. I am glad we only paid around S$7 for two tickets.

Had dinner at Grand Duck Restaurant, which serves Chinese food. Their specialty roast duck didn't look enticing at all but actually tasted pretty good.

Day 3

We departed for Batam Centre Ferry Terminal shortly after breakfast. Mega Mall, a big shopping mall, was conveniently located just opposite the ferry terminal (connected via an overhead bridge), so we went there for a quick lunch at Grand Canyon Coffee. I was feeling a little apprehensive though, because during our last trip to Bali, we also had lunch at Grand Canyon Coffee just before our flight back to Singapore. And I had a horrible bout of diarrhea immediately after I reached Singapore.

There was also a Baskin Robbins nearby and it was having a 1-for-1 offer, so we bought two double scoops of ice cream at 52,000 rupiah (S$7.40). Their strawberry ice cream was fantastic; it had big chunks of strawberries inside!

Reached Singapore at around 430pm, this time thankfully without the diarrhea.

To sum up, I wouldn't mind going to Batam again. But if I do so, it will at most be a 2D1N trip. In fact, a day trip would also suffice since Batam Centre is right beside the ferry terminal; we could just travel there in the morning, eat (A&W!), shop, get a massage, watch a movie (if there are shows worth watching), and return to Singapore in the evening.