Batam Trip
Hooooo....I am back from my batam trip. Tired and sleepy. LOL...But I missed the place, missed the room, missed the fun, missed the spa, missed everything. Oh, how I wish I can stay there for a week. Then I can really really have a good rest over there. So relaxing, away from the city, away from Singapore , away from work, away from everything. I must be day dreaming again. Haha...
Our Journey Start Now...
5 girls set off on 13th September Sat and 2 of them return yesterday and 3 of us return today 15th September Mon. For Claire, Janice and me is a 3 days 2 nights short trip. Well for Amelia and Ping is a 2 days 1 night short trip.
Day 1 - 13th September 2008 - Sat
I woke up at 6.45am, washed up and have breakfast, slacking and watching tv. Final packing of my bag. Then left house @ 7.35am. Go ATM to withdraw $$ for the ferry fees. Then met Janice and Claire in the mrt and go down to Harbour Front together. Claire went to Cheers to buy mineral waters to bring it over to Batam. LOL...Then we met up with Amelia and Ping at Harbour Front Center KFC. They are having breakfast. And they could not finished their 1 set of meal. Claire also ate the KFC breakfast too. Haha...While Janice and me went to collect our boarding pass. Quite crowded at the counter. And they printed some of our names wrongly. Haiz...Then have to reprint again lor. Later went back to KFC to have breakfast. . Janice and I shared 1 set because we did eat some at home liao le. The honey bread is nice, can fight with Popeye liao because so similar except different taste, one is coated with honey and another one eaten with jam. After that it was time to set off liao le. Whahaha...So excited. We waited quite long at the departure hall. While waiting, we went to duty free shop. Saw Volka selling @ $27 and 2 bottles @ $49. Wanted to buy and bring it over to enjoy over the island but in the end we decided not to get it. Because heavy leh. Finally the vessel arrived - Ocean Flyer. Nice, big air conditioner seating. It was almost full house. So many people going for holiday to Batam too. LOL...Journey to Batam Waterfront Terminal is about 45mins. Well I did fall asleep while on board. But not totally asleep lah, just closed eyes only. Because there is a group of girls behind us kept talking and talk so loudly, I can even hear what they talk about lor. Noisy lor.
Finally we arrived the Waterfront Terminal, we were met by the friendly Harris staff in orange shirt holding a board showing and directing those who is going to Harris to walk to the left side. And there is another 2 Harris staffs who will collect our passport and help us to stamp our passport (Express Clearance). We handed them the passport and they will help us clear the immigration. And so we left the hall. Want to exchange $$ but could not find any money changer. And the Terminal looks a bit rundown. Haha...Saw Jco Donuts at the corner and a shop that sell snacks and kueh lapis. But we did not get any. The place was so quiet lor. Nothing much to see also lor. We just walked toward the entrance and then another staff (oh btw, did i mention that orange shirt is their uniform) guide us to a small van and drove us to the harris resort. Just a few mins on the van and we reached the place. Quite near to the Terminal, I think about less than 5 mins on the van only. Harris is just on the left side of the Terminal. And Holiday Inn is on the right side of the Terminal. Just the 2 resorts and the Terminal at the WaterFront City and nothing else, ok lah, maybe some shop houses and restaurants outside the Terminal which we did not go but there is plenty of trees and bushes everywhere. LOL...
Wow upon arrival, we were warmly welcome by the staffs. Welcoming us into the lobby. We were served with a welcome drink - Pinky milky drink think is bandung . And they also gave us wet towel to clean up. I hold the drink in my left hand and the wet towel in my right hand. Both hands are full and they gave a resort guide and I got no hand to take and then they put it over my neck (the pocket was with string) and then they offer cookies too. Seem nice and yummy but I got no hand to take leh. LOL...Some were dancing with the clown. Very entertaining. There were quite a lot of people in same ferry as us and checking in as well. The front office assistants were busy helping those people to check in and we normally do not like to rush and we just wait for the crowd to clear before we check in.
However one of the female staff saw us and came out of the counter and came over to us. We were shown to a seating area to rest while waiting for her to get our check in done. She took the hotel voucher and checked in for us. They were very friendly and helpful. Their uniform is in bright orange, it gave us a very nice, refreshing, bright and sunny impression. Hehe...A very nice welcome. I love it.
Time to check in to our room. Amelia and Ping are staying in Room 439 a Japanese Suite. While Claire, Janice and me in Room 534, just a normal room. Well the highest floor in the resort is only 5. And the lift and corridor was rather stuffy, no air con like that. Maybe it is because opened air to the lobby and the hot air came in. But it is okay lah, not a big problem as long the room air con is working fine. Oh ya, our card got problem and we could not get in. We thought maybe we had taken the wrong card and I went to find Amelia and ping but then they were happily playing inside the room and could not hear my knock. So I went down to reception to get my card done and get into the room. Then the housekeeping came and helps us to set up the extra bed and that is a sofa bed. Haha...It was a sofa and then he open it up and become a bed. Oh ya, we gave an S$2 tip to the guy for helping setting up the extra bed. Our room balcony is facing the swimming pool. Nice and beautiful. Hehehe... Actually we had an early check in, it is about 10am (Batam Time). Rest a while in the room, turn on the tv and got a lot of channels lor, got Disney Channel, HBO, Star Movies, MTV Asia, Sports, Ch 8, Ch U, Ch 5 etc...So good lor, better than at chalet lor. Later we went down to find Amelia and ping in their room. Then I realized initially they also cannot get into their room with their card too. The staff helps them to get into the room. Same problem as us but I got no staff available to help us. Wow their room is super nice. Er well, Amelia had upgraded her room to Japanese Suite for $70 per night. Super big and nice lor, no wonder when I knock on their door earlier on, they never hear lor. So big lor. I love the bath tub outside the balcony. LOL...Nice and cosy lor. We wow very long inside the room. Then we went down to the cafe for our lunch.
They have different sitting areas and we could not decide where to sit and the staff came over to help us, he asked us if we like indoor or outdoor and we prefer air con place and therefore we chose to sit indoor, which is more meant for night lounge. The sofas and armchairs were all so comfortable. After looking at the menu, we realised that the tables were too short for us to have our meals, thus we changed tables. We kept on changing tables until our drinks arrived, but the staffs were so friendly that they waited until we settled down before serving our drinks, not to mention we kept on changing positions. Free set lunch or pizza from the package we took. All of us choose the set lunch and it comes with rice and fruits. I ordered a nice and yummy Chendol as my dessert. Whaha...Oh ya we are seated inside a nice and cosy lounge with a big tv. We can enjoy the food while watching tv but then it was showing Star Movies and the show was not nice at that time leh. Btw, we are the only group inside the place. When we almost finished eating, then came in another 2 couples. Hehe...But we had eaten finished liao le, so we make a move. We charged the bill to our room and I signed the bill for my room while ping signed the bill for her room because it is booked under us.
Claire, Janice and me went to our room to get something and then we walked to another building which is in Yellow colour. And went for our spa appointment liao le. That building is a leisure place where ktv, bowling, dino club (kids room), table tennis, foot reflexlogy etc are located at. The relaxing activity is finally here. Our long awaiting spa is here. And it was at the top floor. The staff at the spa counter was very friendly and attended to us immediately. She was very good and answered all our enquiries. LOL...Because we were not sure the different types of massage and which massage is better. And she recommended us. Claire will be doing it alone. While Janice and me together. We were showed to a room and then change our clothes and start the body scrub. Er, actually was a bit pai say because have to take off clothes mah and they gave us disposable underwear. Full body scrub. So shiok lor. Haha...Then later move to a hut to bathe first and then to do Indonesian massage. After that have a soaking bath inside a bath tub. Nice and fun. With lots of bubbles...The water almost overflows. Then shower again and finished. Sad. So fast. It end with a choice of ginger or green tea and I choose green tea. It is a 3hr package that starts from 1pm to 4pm. Like not enough, still want somemore. Too relaxing liao le lor. The spa was very, very good; the masseurs were very efficient and professional. I almost fell asleep during the body scrub and massage.
After that went out and saw Amelia and ping, their appointment is from 4pm to 7pm. Then the 3 of us walked back to the resort. Went to look at the POLO shop just at the lobby and then went into a souvenir shop and Claire bought a Harris Slipper. And then went to a small snacks shop to take a look and again Claire bought some snacks. The snacks were rather expensive lor. Like Potato Chip cost about S$2.50 lor. Oh ya all the $ spend at the resort is in Sing Dollars. Then we went to our room to slack and watch tv. LOL...And then wow super hungry. And the Kampong Buffet Dinner only starts @ 7pm to 10pm. But we are damn hungry liao le. Actually want to wait for Amelia and ping but then cannot tahan the hungry liao and we went down to the pool side to have dinner first. Before heading to the poolside, we went to the reception to make reservations for the shuttle to Nagoya . The girl was very friendly to us. I think we asked her a lot of questions and she listened and answered all our questions. Haha...I saw a basket of cookies at the counter and I took some and ate. LOL...Hungry hungry liao le. But a bit like lou feng lor, maybe put too long liao le. But it is still nice leh.
After that, we went to the poolside and the staffs were very friendly and kept asking us to go in. The foods were quite nice. Got rice, noodles, curry vegetables, vegetables, potato etc.... Ox Tail Soup and a special soup (LOL....yes it is special soup, with a man inside and when you open the cover and scare you. Yes I am scared by him because never thought of that much mah.) Got BBQ section, just choose our foods and hand it over to the staffs and they will bbq for us and served it to us. Haha...Got squid, crabs, prawns, sausage, beef steaks, chicken wings. Got appetizer - differents salad, quill eggs, dried beancurd etc...The buffet comes with a choice of drink and I took Mango Drink. Got deep fried popiah, banana fritter etc...It is cooked on the spot, so it means you will have a hot serving, and it is yummy. Got ice cream also, think got 3 flavour but I did not eat leh. Wow me so nan de leh, normally I will want to eat the ice cream but this time I never take the ice cream. Instead I took the dessert, a few varieties of cakes and I love the cookies. Hehe...How I wish I can bring the 2 big bottles back with me. LOL...Very nice and yummy lor. Oh ya, as we have 5 people in our group, 3 of us went for our dinner first and we took a table for 3. When our 2 friends came looking for us, the table around us were either reserved or taken; but the staffs were very kind and they took away the reserve tag and joined that table with ours. That is very kind of them to help shift the table. Haha…
The environment was nice, poolside dining. Got live band performance and on-going activities. They have made the place very lively. And they were really extremely friendly and kept asking us how is the food and how is everything. Haha...Amelia, Ping and Claire were dragged by them to dance with them. Well, Janice and me insisted don't want to go. LOL...And we took photos and video of them. Ping dedicated a song "More Than Words" and they sang it live. The band is considered not bad. Know a lot of songs - English & Chinese as well. Then got one Ang Moh who was with their family at another table came out to play the guiter and sing song. Wow power leh. He sing very nice leh. LOL...Cool leh. Too bad, he is not handsome or young but is an uncle liao le. ;p. We had an enjoyable night. We left the place almost at 10pm. Oh ya, did I mention Batam time is 1hr slower than Singapore . So it means it is 9pm in Singapore . Again we charge to room and sign for the bills.
We went back to our room respectively after that. Slacking, watching tv and bathing and time for bed time. Claire fall asleep first and followed by Janice. Left me sitting alone there watching tv - Ch U Guess X 3 and the anime after the variety show. Then sleepy liao le, want to go bed le. Suddenly received call from ping and they were still awake and guess what, they were hungry liao le. Ask me if I want to go down and join them in their room. LOL...In the end I never go because next day have to wake up early lor. So I decided to go to bed at about 1.30am (Singapore Time).
Day 2 - 14th September 2008 - Sun
Woke up at 7.30am (Batam Time), washed up and gave Amelia they all a morning call. And we met them at the lobby 8am for breakfast. Breakfast was nice. Hehe...Fried Bee Hoon, sausages, roasted chicken (so strange, early in the morning eat chicken), vegetables, potato, salad, plain congee (add your own ingredient), different types of cakes, muffins and bread. You can toast your bread too. Pancakes (cook on the spot), sunny eggs & scrambled eggs cooked on the spot too. There are different types of cereals available for you to choose. Dessert is Black Glutinous Rice Pudding with coconut. Don't forget the fresh fruits too. Hehehe...Wow we ate a lot of foods.
After breakfast, Claire and Janice went back to the room to slack while me follow Amelia and ping back to their room. Slack inside the room and then went to soak our feets inside the stone tub outside the balcony. Super shiok. Haha...Time was very fast, and I was about to go off at 10.20am back to my room to prepare myself and go out to town le. Amelia and ping continue to slack in their room and they are going back to Singapore today 4.30pm ferry.
So we went down to lobby to gather at 10.50am and took the shuttle bus out to the Nagoya Town . Along the way, we saw the Go Kart tracks, mini motor bikes. Ai yo, wasted leh, never go down to beach to see see. Next time we gather more people and go there to have combat war leh. Shiok leh, air gun.....LOL...Oh ya, the road are a bit uneven and narrow. Like xiang xia type. Haha...The journey to the town is about 30mins. It is a big shopping center. Actually there is a lot of shopping center at Nagoya Town but we did not go to other place and we only stay at the main shopping center. A lot of shops inside the center but then for clothes wise, there is no big sizes for us. It is not cheap even they have big size clothes available. Some items are very cheap, like bags and the foods. LOL…We bought a lot of keychain as souvenir. Janice bought the most because she going to give them to her colleagues. Claire and I bought about 4 – 5. Then we went to hyper mart. We push a shopping cart and the cart is full of our stuffs. LOL…Can you imagine how much things we had bought. Too many stuffs and messy and therefore we took 2 baskets to separate the things. Claire only has 1 basket of things. I have 1 basket in my hand too. And shared the cart with Janice. Everything seem so cheap, ma jiam no need $$, take and take. Haha…The chocolates even cheaper lor, 20cents per bar lor. We took almost 30+ bars each lor. Bought muffins, swiss roll and brownie cream cake to eat at the hotel. After the payment, we stack all the bags inside the cart and pushed it around. Oh ya, did I mention that you cannot bring carrying bags into the hyper mart, own bags can lah, but other shopping bags cannot. So have to store it at the counter provided there. I bought 4pcs of Kueh and it cost 10000 rupiah, can consider cheap lah. Actually I need to buy local snacks back for my office but then could not find any local shop and therefore bought a lot at the hyper mart. But after the hyper mart, we saw a stall selling local snacks and I bought some. Haha...Then we went shopping around and Claire and I bought a Mickey Mouse bag for less than S$10 only. LOL...Because we need to get to 2nd floor to find bath soap and therefore Janice look after the cart at the ground floor. While Claire and me went up to Beauty Credit to find the bath soap. Later went to grab our dinner. Before that, we made the Batam KeyChain with our Name printed on it. Then went to get A&W curly fries x 3. And we had a root beer float. Yummy...Then actually want to get the Mango Chicken @ A&W but then we realised we do not have enough $$. Oh we had a big scared. Because Claire thought she had given me 356000 rupiah (amount is combine with Janice) and we only left 80000 rupiah and I thought I had lost the $$. We went to KFC to pack the 9pcs chicken 82000 rupiah. And went to find Janice to clarify the $$. And it turn out that Janice had only given us 100000 rupiah instead of 300000 rupiah. Because Janice pass the $$ to Claire and Claire counted it (but she mistook the notes 5000 and 50000. Haha...ya the notes are really very confusing. So many zero) and she hand it over to me. I did not count it because we are at the open area, not wise to show the $$ and I believe the amount. Yuan lai zi ji xia zi ji.
Actually Claire want to take the shuttle bus back to hotel but then we have bought a lot of things and therefore Janice and me do not want to take the bus back because the bus was rather small and cramp lor. And we got so many things no place to put lor. LOL...So in the end, we decided to take cab back lor. So after that, we went to the taxi counter and get a cab back to our hotel. Wow liao, we seem kana kan by them lor. To what we know, the cab fare from the town back to hotel is around 97000 rupiah. And then they open the price 1250000 rupiah lor. What to do, have to agree to it lor. Because that is Taxi Counter. Unlike getting cab from the road, can bargain lor. Haiz...The car boot is full of our bags. Haha...When reached hotel, initially we want to pay in Sing dollars because if pay in Sing will be S$17 but then he don't accept the $5 dollar note so in the end we pay in rupiah lor.
Finally can go back to hotel room. And we are damn hungry liao le, because we did not eat lunch lor. We quickly separated all the items and then start eating our dinner le. After eating, we start to count our $$, because we share the the $$. Haha, a bit messy because some I pay, some they pay so we count dao confused liao le but finally we managed to settle the bill. After that we packed our bags and then went to bathe. Haha...After bathe le, wow I felt so sleepy and once I sat on the bed and I fall asleep le. Then they wake me up to have supper that is the muffins, swiss rolls and cake that we had bought earlier. Haha...After supper, everyone is tired le and we went to bed after the ch 8 (Shao Nian Yang Jia Jiang).
Day 3 - 15th September 2008 - Mon
Woke up at 7.30am (Batam Time), washed up and started to pack bags. Then we went to the cafe @ 8.30am for breakfast. Today breakfast was similar to yesterday, only some changes. Today got fried noodles, curry mutton (yesterday chicken and today mutton) and vegetables, the rest all remain the same. But today don't see any dessert but they have Nasi Lemak. And as usual fresh fruits too. Hehehe...But today we did not ate a lot maybe it is because we had late supper last night and therefore the food still not digested. LOL...
After breakfast, went back to room to continue to pack our bags and then slack inside the room. Felt like sleeping. Haha...Initially wanted to go play bowling and go sauna and jacuzzi and slack at the pool side before going back to Singapore. But we changed plan and want to go bowling and then go to town again before going back to Singapore. But after slacking inside the room, we decided to go play bowling after we came back from town. Haha, we kept changing plan. So after slacking in the room, we took our bags down and check out the hotel and left our bags at the counter. And after that we took the shuttle bus down to Nagoya Town. Actually our package included only 1 free shuttle to town and we had used it yesterday and therefore today we had to pay for the ride. Sing $10 per person for 2 ways transport.
After we reached the Nagoya Town, we went walking around and then we went to Five Stars Massage to have foot massage and body massage. Haha...Very cheap lor, less than Sing $10 for an 1hr 15mins service lor. Damn cheap right. Oh ya, since Janice and me wear jeans and therefore they gave us short to change into. After the massage, we went to hyper mart to grab some stuffs and then bought more snacks at the local stall that I went yesterday. Finally we spent all our $$ at A&W for 2 Mango Chicken because we do not have enough to buy 3 so no choice have to share le. And we order a root beer float as well. Haha..So we have left 2200 rupiah. And we went back to entrance to wait for our bus to go back. Just then, Claire realised she had forgotten her bag at the hyper mart, remember I told you have to store your bag at the counter. Heng she last mins found the tag inside her pocket and she run off to collect her bag. Then the bus arrived and heng she make it in time. Haha...
We reached hotel at 3.10pm (Batam Time). Then we went to play bowling because we got free games. In the hurry to play finished the games. LOL...And then rush off back to lobby @ 4pm. For the transfer to Terminal. Wow, we had a lot of things. I think I bought the most lor. Got 3 bags lor. And is all big big one lor. Haha...Reached Terminal liao le, we went to buy the Kueh Lapis at the shop. There is free testing. Got quite a few flavours but I prefer the original. I bought 1 big box and 2 small one. Damm cheap lor. Only cost Sing $29 only lor. If I had more free hands, I will definitely buy more wor. LOL...After buying that, my hands are already full and heavy lor. Like kiasu auntie lor. I think everybody go there just to relax only lor, they don't seem to buy a lot lor but well for us wow say sia, so many bigs bags. Claire bought the least, she got only 3 small bags. Janice bought quite a lot too but her items are small. Well me the most lor, big and bulky because got a lot of biscuits lor. Haha...
Waiting to board our Ferry - Sea Prince. Rather small ferry leh. Kekeke...Claire took a 3 seaters area and then we had put all our stuffs till no place to move le. Janice sit alone at the other side. The ferry start to move @ about 4.45pm (Batam Time). While the ferry start to move, we ate our leftover muffins and I drank my mini Yakult. Haha...And then sleepy liao le. Then the ferry stop over @ another Terminal (not sure what terminal is that) to pick up more passengers. Wow full house lor, it is super full house lor. No place to sit liao lor and some had to sit upstair open aired lor. I really fall asleep leh. And when I woke up, we reached Sentosa liao le. And slowly reaching Harbour. Haha...We waited everyone had left before we start to get out. Because we had too many things liao le, pai say don't want to block other lor. Very heavy lor. Totally no hand to carry other things liao lor. When we had the bags scanning, the officers saw our bags and wow. Haha...Initially want to take mrt home because I got direct mrt mah. But then we reach Singapore about 6.45pm liao lor. Though it is Monday but then mrt will be crowded lor and we don't want to squeeue the mrt lor so we shared a cab back home. The cab reached my house first. In the cab, we saw the moon in the sky so big and low lor.
Finally settled down. I am hungry liao le, there is no dinner at home. Sad. And that is the end of my holiday and I am here blogging. LOL...
♥ Dream Do Come TRUE ♥ @ 9:51 PM