It was the month of July and i was thinking what presents to get for both of my BFFs's birthday and since during one of our dinner we randomly mentioned about going Batam for a short getaway, i was thinking - Since i haven't been there before, why not treat them to a Batam getaway! It was super impromptu and we only had like less than 2 weeks to plan this trip. I had to get clearance to leave the country too (due to the nature of my job) But nevertheless, we managed to make it for the trip!
4 years of friendship and counting ♥
Decided to try a new style of editing my photos, which is change the background to B&W. Quite satisfied with the result but it takes up ALOT of time!!! Normally i take about 2 to 3 mins to edit a photo but now for this Batam travelogue, each photo takes around 7 mins!!! But still, i managed to finish edit close to 40 photos! Hope you will enjoy the photos! I guess i won't be doing it again! LOL
Penguin ferry service to Batam! Penguin reminds me of the the ferry i take to Tekong when i was recruit! The tickets cost around 50 bucks per person for a return trip, and there's specific timing!
Breakfast at KFC before checking in at the departure hall!
Totally didn't expect such a crowd at the departure hall. Maybe because it's a weekend...
10am: Time to board the ferry! Have to wake up super early that day and travel to harbourfront!
We were the first few to board the ferry so we get to choose our seats! Free mineral water, LOL
Camwhore while waiting for the ferry to depart! The whole journey takes around 1 hour...
Upon reaching, we had seriously no idea where to go. According to our hotel website, they say that it's within walking distance but after asking around, it's like damn far away! No choice, had to cab.
Took a 20 mins cab to our hotel. Paid using Sing dollars. 10 bucks! Should have paid in Rupiah.
Ta-dah! Apparently this is one of the best hotel in Batam. Didn't expect this quality in the area. By the way, it was my BFFs that chose and booked the hotel, all i did was to pay for it. LOLOLOLOL
Quite a decent room with a queen size bed, couch, cable TV, fridge etc for $100+/day.
Best of all, THERE'S A BATH TUB!!! That's like one of my must-have in my hotel room!
There's even a jacuzzi and swimming pool at 6th level or something - which we didn't utilize it.
Our hotel location is damn good because right beside it is the Nagoya shopping mall!
Decided to have lunch at A&W! Still remember there used to be an outlet at Tampines Blk 201 :(
A&W famous mascot! I wonder why they close down in Singapore. Such a waste.
One word - Overpriced. One meal cost around 8 sing dollars and portion is pathetic. Not only that, we had to wait 15 mins for our food to arrive. The root beer seem diluted too. WHY LIKE THAT!
Ok, this photo totally make us look like we are totally enjoying our food -__-
Before i go on, i would like to say something. BATAM IS DAMN BORING!!!! If given a choice, i think i would rather spend the $$ in our own country at Universal Studios. Then maybe book a local hotel at a boutique hotel, buy a cake and spend the night there. I think it would have been more meaningful.
Nevermind, i shall continue. After having A&W lunch, we shopped around Nagoya mall, feeling bored (there's nothing much in the mall, only alot of fake branded goods), we decided to go back to our hotel and think of what other things we can do. A local recommended us to go Kepri mall.
Nevermind, i shall continue. After having A&W lunch, we shopped around Nagoya mall, feeling bored (there's nothing much in the mall, only alot of fake branded goods), we decided to go back to our hotel and think of what other things we can do. A local recommended us to go Kepri mall.
Once again, we took a cab to KEPRI MALL - which is supposedly better to shop at.
This is how Kepri mall looks like.
First thing when we enter the mall, instead of looking for place to shop, we...
looked for food instead. I wanted to eat this twister potato thing! Damn cheap, like $1.50?
They even give us an ice cream cone each! So $1.50 for an ice cream and a twister potato!
We were more interested in the twister potato though. I threw the cone away, opps.
We were walking walking then we saw 50% off and here's where we spent our next 45 mins. Rampaging through the piles of clothes to find something that we like. 50% = about $4 to $5 per tee only so can you imagine us flipping through all the clothes! I think i bought like 5 tees?
Always wanted to try this art machine in arcades but it cost around 6 bucks for one piece and guess how much it is to try it out in the arcade in Batam? ONLY $1.50! We took 3 times, 1 each (:
Our masterpiece! Can't believe it's only $1.50 lor. Souvenir (:
After some shopping, our last destination in Kepri mall was their super market! We just randomly throw snacks that we want to try into our trolley without even thinking and in the end...
our trolley was filled with all kinds of snacks! Amounting to about 50 sing dollars!!! O_O
We shopped till we forgot about our dinner. By the time we finish shopping at the super market, it was already late and we found this place called the BFC (like imitate KFC -.-) Apparently, BFC stands for Best Fried Chicken, so we da pao-ed a family feast and took a cab back to our hotel!
Our BFC dinner in the hotel room! By the way, those things that looks like burger is actually our rice.
One photo before we start our meal! ♥
After our meal, we pour out all our snacks that we got from the Supermarket on our bed and started dividing accordingly! Can't believe we bought so much snacks. HOW TO BRING BACK TO SG?! -__-
Here are my "harvest" of the day!
Well, that's the end of Day 1 in Batam. I think next time if i want to go Batam (for whatever reason) i should buy those deals from online and follow the tour. Maybe it will be more interesting. I might want to try their beach resort next time. Or maybe i should go Bintan instead...
