Batam Trip Day 1

After a week to JB, Xiong and I went to Batam for 3 days 2 night short get-away.

We had all this planned last month as we were aiming to go oversea during the long weekend. We had booked with Sindo ferry to Sekupang as we were staying over Harris Waterfront Resort Hotel. Though Harris Waterfront provide free shuttle bus from Waterfront Ferry Terminal, i was unable to purchase the tickets from their website. We ended up getting off at Sekupang instead. In order to book tickets to Waterfront Ferry Terminal, you can only purchase advance tickets from Sindo counter itself. They currently do not provide online purchase from their website.

On Saturday, we got up real early to get to Harbour Front Station. Had a heavy breakfast at McDonald's before we make our way to departure area.

We waited for about 40 minutes before boarding the ferry.

Was raining heavily when we left Singapore

Took a photo in the ferry

It was about an hour journey to Sekupang Ferry Terminal. 

There is almost nothing at Sekupang Ferry Terminal. The people queuing at the custom weren't quiet and most of them were chatting away happily (But none of them were caught luckily!). We cleared the custom pretty fast as there were not a lot of people. At the arrival area, there is only a taxi counter and money changer. Others than that, there was nothing. Taxi drivers are touting customers while some of them had booked transport to their hotel.

And we were touted by one of them. After agreeing to their price, the taxi driver fetched us to Harris Waterfront at SGD13. It was a 15 minutes drive to hotel. Along the road, there were wreckage everywhere; broken and abandon houses, burnt and uprooted trees were all at sight. After driving through the 2 way narrow road, we had finally reach the resort safely. 

There were staffs singing and dancing at the entrance to welcome customers (unusual sight). 

Happy Boy !

As it was an hour prior to our check in time, we went to their bowling alley to kill time. The price for bowling is about the same as Singapore so there isn't much difference.. 

I had booked a Japanese Suite at Harris Waterfront and the room was really big. It costs SGD150 per night with breakfast included. Let's take a look at the room!

They have 2 toilets actually.

Entering another room

Most importantly, they have hot stone bath outdoor.

This is the price i paid for. But at night, the room was really dark that it felt eerie more than romantic. 

I took a short bath and after which, we took a cab to BCS (Batam City Square).

Bought this pandan bun from this particular. 

It was quite crowded in BCS. Over there, you can find clothes, shoes, salon, electronics stuffs like handphone casing, monopod, time zone arcade, and JC Supermarket. It was one of the better shopping mall i felt in Batam. The clothes were like selling for Rp 500k ~ 100k and some were having good bargains for like 1-for-1.    

The basement is all full of handphone accessories and gadgets.

Koko Krunch costs est SGD1.70 ! So cheap!

Soon, the sun sets and its time for dinner!! We did some homework previously so that we know which seafood restaurant to visit. But in the end, the driver brought us to Wey Wey Seafood. He stopped his car directly in front of their restaurant (But we didn't want to eat that). After realizing that we couldn't find Harbour Bay Seafood, we walked in to Wey Wey Seafood. Wey Wey Restaurant is big and they are located beside the beach. It wasn't difficult to find as they occupy a big area.

       

Sorry for the bad quality photos.

We ordered 2 black pepper crabs, 1 nasi goreng, 1 sambal kangkong and 1 mayonnaise prawn.

Happy boy

Can you imagine that the price we paid for?! It costs a merely SGD30 for the food we ordered. Where to find in Singapore?!! The foods were delicious, the sambal kang kong was spicy enough, the rice tasted great but the only thing was that one of the crab was not fresh enough (maybe?). The meat of the crab was stuck to the shell. We had a hard time biting the meat off . But luckily, the other crab was good. Last but not least, the prawn mayonnaise was delectable too!

This was our total bill.

After that, the taxi uncle drove us back to hotel. It was a fulfilling yet tiring day for us. 

If you were to go batam, don't forget to eat their seafood for they were cheap, fresh and delicious! I shall be blogging on my Day 2 shortly!