Last day

Have I ever mentioned that I find uploading holiday photographs to  a pain? That's the reason why I love to do live blogging so much - snap a photo, upload to facebook directly, type some random comments, and that's it.

Similarly, with a smartphone and blogger, you can snap a photo, type some words and email to the blog as a post, which was what I did during the Terengganu trip, with a-not-so-smartphone.

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I think it has become a tradition of sorts to hang around the resort on the last day, and start snapping away to make up for the mbs that we did not use up during the earlier days of the getaway.

Breakfast buffet again, for the last day, followed by this tradition.

 

Breakfast with a spot of kitty anyone?

 

Harris Waterfront Resort. I didn't notice the peak until the last day!

The other "FC" I was referring to. Taken at Sekupang Ferry Terminal.

 9 minutes into the ride, we could already see Marina Bay Sands. The trip back was quite fast!

It was extremely windy, so it was a tad worrying. I predicted a Merlionisque return trip.

Luckily though, nothing of that sort happened.

I was at the top of the boat, outdoors, so I think the wind really helped stave off that seasickness.

I did, however, felt like chucking some people into the sea, because the sign already stated "No Smoking" and guess what they were doing?

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Well, generally the trip was alright, though I could do with less shopping and more outdoor activities. Traditional fare was cheap, A&W was nostalgic. Oh, that reminds me, their mugs are HUGE. I actually asked for half the size. I think the girl serving me must have thought that I was crazy.

The resort was alright, but I didn't get to try the pool :(

I think though, Sheraton Langkawi was still the best resort I've stayed in. Or maybe because I was young and impressionable at that time...Haha...

And it rained...part 2

So apparently, Sunday was pretty happening in Singapore too. I heard there was a storm here, while we had heavy rain in Batam.

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So we went for lunch on that Sunday when the rain lessened from a downpour. The taxi ride was...I have no idea how long it was - only that it was long enough to fall asleep in. (According to Google Maps, it's 51 min).

The restaurant's name is a mouthful - Saung Sunda Sawargi. It serves Indonesian fare and it's quite nice and cheap...In fact, I think it's cheaper than A&W!

Prices are around $2.50SG onwards. The fried beancurd, by the way, is to die for. Apparently the chicken is supposed to be good too, but just thinking of chicken makes me want to throw up, so yeah.

After that was more shopping, though this time, it was for souvenir. I don't know where the taxi driver took us, but it was a sleepy complex where only like 3 shops were opened - woodcraft shop, keropok shop and ...counterfeit goods shop (I did mention that they prevalent)

Then off to Megamall to find more of those drinks.

On the way back was a mosque - apparently this is the biggest mosque in Batam. It's near Megamall, if anyone wants to try see it.

And it rained

This is something I realised on my second day in Batam -

Paying with SGD is more worth it than paying by IDR. I don't know why, and it doesn't make any sense.

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So, after the go cart activity, we headed back to the resort, all hot and sweaty, where a nice soak in the stone tub was waiting for us.

Except that, minutes after stepping into our room, it started raining - heavily. So, there we soaked, with the rain drizzling on our faces and the hot water was...not so hot.

It continued raining well into the late afternoon and we couldn't do any other outdoor activities, so we headed out for lunch some 30 minutes away via taxi from the resort.

The great thing about Indo taxis is that, as long as you can squeeze in, you can go in! :)

A spot of hot

Second day started off HOT. It was the sort of weather Singapore was having for a while until a couple days ago. Seeing the weather so fine, we decided to walk a bit and made plans for the day.

We stumbled upon one of the activities that the resort had - the ATV ride trail. It costs $20/bike/hour. Apparently it was brand new - in fact, the machines had only just came. It looked pretty exciting but...!

Sadly though, long queue + hasty assembly, my dad decided not to risk it, so we trudged back to the lobby to ask about the go carts instead.

Go carts were a little bit lot more expensive, at $15 for a 10 minutes ride. The trail was just around 5 minutes ride from the resort and the trip there was free and I wasn't the one who was paying, so off we went.

I had some reservations when I saw the track and the go carts. I sniffed the helmet a little and hoped that it wouldn't stink my head much. But I guess the hot weather sort of dried out the sweat from previous users quite fast, so the smell wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

I don't know why the person bothered saying the right pedal was for gas and left was for brakes, because, I didn't need to press the right pedal and the cart just moved on its own accord - and at such a high speed that I had to press on the brake pedal all the way!

However, generally, I did enjoy it...I would love to go for go carting again, and 10 minutes is kind of short!

Side-tracking a little, this drink is awesome on a hot day, and it costs only 2800IDR - that's around 38c. It's a fruit-tea product with the undertones of mint, so people who are allergic to mint...unfortunately, this is not for you.

Virgin trip

Next up was my virgin trip to a massage parlour.

After walking for 2 hours around BSC, I couldn't wait for the massage. Massages, I must admit, are not as over-rated as I think it was. And a good thick skin (not literallyl) is in order for the traditional body massage. But it was good!

I don't have pictures of the place, but here's a card.

At 130,000 RP (around $20) for 1.5 hours of full body massage, it's actually pretty cheap, I think. And well worth it.

The sore neck that had been bugging me for a while was gone! Voila! Just like that. It did come with some scary positions, and several scary sounding cracks though.

Dinner was after at Golden Prawn, but I was pretty conked out, so no pics from me, although I seem to recall posing for some photographs, in the fuzzy recesses of my brain cells.

About Golden Prawn, it's a seafood place where you can pick your choice of seafood and tell them how you want it cooked like. It's been around since forever. You can check it out at this website:

http://www.goldenprawnbatam.com/

Dubious shops

Where else would a Singaporean in Batam go to for a quick-fastfood stop-over?

Why, hello.

It's been a while since I've been around...

If you're at Nagoya Hills mall and you're feeling adventurous, you can try this name clone:



They serve indo foodfare like bakso and some chicken or something. Amazingly, it.has more than 1 branch...!

Even more amazing still, is that this is not the only "fc" in town.

We moved to BSC after that, and this was was when I realised, apparently counterfeit goods shops were everywhere.

Counterfeit items are not limited to LV.

Fancy angry birds animation? They've got it!

Japanese

We checked in at Harris Waterfront slightly after 1, if I remember correctly, which was around 2 minutes away from Waterfront ferry terminal.

Our room was the Japanese suite and it featured tatami mat, low bed and an outdoor bath.

Outdoor stone bathtub. Aroma sea salt bath not included.

nice try, but it can't beat the real one.

Like any other Singaporean in Batam, the foremost thing on the itinerary wold be...SHOPPING.

checking out

Sitting at the lobby, trying to squeeze a couple of posts in while we are checking out. Shan't talk about holidays yet, but the thught of having data plan back in another hour is preety exciting...

Wireless less

So I've realized another downfall of my phone. Sucky wireless reception :(. So boo Motorola. Since all the posts are on my phone and my phone is wireless-less, looks like its gotta wait til post-trip.

Hello Harris..

finally reached the lobby of hotel at 2pm local. Shall wash up, then grab quick tea/lunch.

In sing

I fear that this shall be our last journey together...