Sunday 19 June 2011

Batam whirlwind trip

Now that the kids are all grown up, I'm beginning to enjoy my short getaways with friends. Traveling with good companions can be great fun. I can imagine going on regular holidays with my friends until we're all too old to travel. With great company, it really doesn't matter where we go to.

Last weekend, a group of us took a ferry to Batam, an Indonesian island nearby. For someone who used to think that there is absolutely nothing to do in the little island I was surprised we kept ourselves occupied throughout the weekend.

Our friend got us a really good deal at the new i-Hotel. It's conveniently located in the popular district of Nagoya, within walking distance from a new hypermart and shopping centre.

From the hotel room, I could even see the Singapore skyline on a clear morning. The area surrounding our hotel is flat, with clusters of factories and houses co-existing happily.


We spent many happy hours swimming, shopping, eating and relaxing.

Watching the sunset with friends can be an awesome experience.


We dedicated an entire afternoon for hair treatment at Johnny Andrean Salon and massage at Isabella.

Batam Island used to be a sleepy coastal village until it underwent major transformation into a shipbuilding and industrial zone starting from the 1970s. Today, one can find food chains like McDonalds, KFC, J.Co and A&W in the major malls.

There are all sorts of shophouses, coffee shops and street vendors lining the major streets.


This textile shop caught our eye. We went in to look at the fabrics.


Nagoya Mall is one of the most popular malls in Batam. It is packed with boutiques, salons, restaurants and food outlets.

I ended up buying myself a pair of rubber boots, the kind that Power Rangers wear. CH got himself two batik shirts from Batam Centre Mega Mall.

It was particularly crowded last weekend due to the school holiday in Singapore. Batam's close proximity to Singapore makes it a popular destination for Singaporeans.

When it was time for us to leave, the seats on the afternoon ferries were fully booked, we had to settle for an evening one.


14 comments:

JY69 said...

very cool!

Wen-ai said...

Nice! Refresh my memory again, but Batam actually accepts Sing dollars right? So is shopping and dinning still cheap in Batam?

Blur Ting said...

Wen-ai- You can pay in S$ but it would be better to change into Rupiah. We changed at the Batam Ferry Terminal which offers better rate than Singapore.

Things are still cheaper than Singapore. It depends on what you buy. Starbucks charges the price for coffee as Singapore but J.Co Donuts cost alot cheaper. So many Singaporeans return to Singapore with boxes of donuts!

Malar said...

Very interesting gateway! Never heard of Batam! Nice place to shop i guess!

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Anonymous said...

Very nice experience in Batam..
Batam is nice place to short trip, right?
I also have taken the tour that you tell in the above.
I find the cheap deal from www.batamciti.com

Hihihihi...
Hope to read your other experiences in Batam.

Cheerful,
Yola

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Eva Ida Ryanna said...

Hi may i know where the textile shop is located? I knw it was very long ago hope u can recall 😊

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