3D2N Batam Trip

Last weekend was amazing.

A week before Sunday, Yat asked if we should go for a short trip anywhere. We were looking at Bali initially but it was a little too expensive for me at the last minute because... unemployed, so we settled on Batam instead. We talked about it and only booked the hotel on Sunday morning at 2 on the day we were due to depart.

We came home from a friend's pre-wedding photo at 5am after all the lepak session.

Woke up at noon and off to Harbourfront Ferry Terminal at 1 and reaching there about 1.30. Checked with a few ferry companies and found out that not all ferry companies go to Harbour Bay Ferry Terminal, which is the nearest ferry terminal near our hotel ; Da Vienna Boutique Hotel. Of course we can take a ferry to Batam Centre like we always do but we thought discovering new places and getting lost should be in our agenda for that day.

We bought two way tickets from Horizon. Their counter is located on the third floor of Harbourfront and it cost $48/person for a two way ticket.

The next available ferry was at 2.15 and imagine reaching the counter at 1.35 and then we had to change some money (because we were not sure that there will be any money changer at Harbour Bay so we did not want to risk not having any local currency to take a cab). 

My advice is, don't change your indonesian currency at Harbourfront. The rate was 9500IDR for $1 and it was 9650IDR for $1 at Harbour Bay Ferry Terminal. So now you know. Just change like $30 there for your cab fare to the hotel and for some room deposit, because you can get 100,000IDR to $1 at Nagoya Hill if you are heading there right after checking in.

Horizon Ferry is a really new company that was launched in 2014 so their ferry was still in perfect condition. The seats felt good (way better than BatamFast if you ask me) and it is not as packed, very sure because not many people will go to Harbour Bay on a Sunday afternoon. 

It was a quiet and conducive 45 minutes ferry ride and the ferry left exactly on time.

Also, in case you need the loo during the ferry ride, you do not have to worry abot smelly and dirty toilets because Horizon ferries have 4 toilets AND IT IS CLEAN, WITH BIDET AND A SPRAY, you know, to keep your ass clean but if you prefer toilet roll then yeah they have that too... But gross, guys.

Upon reaching, we cleared the customs pretty fast too even though they only have 2 counters for foreign passport. There were really only about 5-6 foreigners including us at the customs.

Arrival was a breeze, definitely.

A complete contrast to Batam Center arrival. Batam Center seems to always be packed with people, always seem so busy and people and cars are everywhere. Harbour Bay seems more relaxed and laid back.

We took a cab to Nagoya Hill instead of our hotel because we were starving and after looking at the map, we were convinced that our hotel was pretty near  to Nagoya Hill and we could walk the distance.

A cab ride to Nagoya Hill from Harbour Bay Ferry Terminal is at a fixed price of 55,000IDR which is about $5.80. Honestly felt like it could have been cheaper with meter because it seems pretty near but it was set and we didn't really want to cause a scene because the taxi driver was really nice.

The first thing we searched for when we reached Nagoya Hill was A&W. I was quite surprised that Yat wanted A&W because the last time we were here I thought we had already established that it was on the pricier side hahaha but I guess we could not resist.

After we stuffed our face, we set on walking to our hotel. I did not have roaming data so I thought google map on my phone would be useless but apparently, it was the opposite! I have already searched and bookmarked the hotel when I still had 3G so when we were in Batam it was still saved AND I COULD SEE MY LOCATION TOO. Like you know that blue dot that usually only works with internet? It was following me! So it actually helped us navigate our way.

After about 10 minutes walk, we finally reached Da Vienna Boutique Hotel and checked in. It was a really nice hotel with quite a fancy entrance and more importantly, it was clean and did not smell. Receptionist was efficient and we just had to pay 200,000IDR for room deposit.

We booked this hotel through Expedia Mobile App and it was only $35.75/night before taxes so for a 3D2N stay it only cost us $86.52 after taxes. Which is a really good deal. How cheap is that? AND THE HOTEL IS AWESOME TOO. 

Oh and did I mention it was inclusive of breakfast?

Anyway, I guess it was still pristine because it is a new hotel, which was just launched recently in early 2015. If they would clean up the buildings around them, and maintain the cleanliness in their hotel, pretty sure their ratings will go up (and so will their price hehe).

They have in-house spa and gym too. No rooftop swimming pool or bathtub in our room but it was okay. I was not beach body ready anyway lol.

With a heavy stomach and with the comfy hotel bed and fluffy pillow, we could not stop ourselves from falling asleep and only got our ass off the bed for dinner at 8pm.

We tried walking a different route to Nagoya Hill, just to look around and see what we can find and there were street foods and hawker stalls really close to our hotel. We did not eat there though. We ended up at Nagoya Hill level 2 (but probably level 3 for us because their ground level is called Ground Level, and their first level starts on the second level), and ate at Baresto Cafe.

Order a small plate of omelette, black pepper beef, battered squids and salted egg chicken along with oreo crush (that uses ICE CREAM instead of ICE thank god I love it already) and 2 ice lemon tea that was enough for 2 pax but still way too much for the both of us for only 182,000IDR which is really just about $20 for all that. 

I mean if we were to compare to 2 sets of 2 piece chicken meal at A&W that cost us about 150,000IDR which is about $16 I guess you can say our dinner was worth it.

After dinner, we walked for a bit and checked out the arcade. Nothing fancy like time crisis or the games we have at TimeZone but the basketball hoop game was going at 20cents per game. It was only 1,000IDR (10cent) for one coin and most game only uses 1 or 2 coins so you can go all out there if you like those sitting down machine games (I have zero idea what it is called). It is almost like a gambling den than an arcade actually.

Also, you can smoke your lungs out in the arcade itself lol. They do not have the  no-smoking policy so knock yourself out while shooting hoops. Just don't burn yourself.

Dropped by J.Co donut and bought a box of 6 donuts at 47,000IDR ($5) hehe so I stuffed my face with oreology hehe.

While everything else there is cheaper than in Singapore, I still cannot get over how 2 scoop of ice cream from Baskin Robbins cost us 115,000IDR ($12)!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But it's okay. Cotton candy still made me happy, just not Yat's wallet lol.

DAY TWO

It was breakfast time and the both of us have a habit of setting the alarm for breakfast 1 hour before breakfast ends. So if breakfast ends at 10, our alarm is at 9 and we will only really wake up at 9.30. That is always the case and I always have to be the first one up or else we can all just forget about breakfast.

Breakfast have a huge variety. I am sorry that there were no pictures but I was really just paiseh to want to take photos of the spread, but there are tons!

They have fried rice, seafood pasta, sweet sour fish, chicken cooked in chilli, potatoes, salads, desserts (DURING BREAKFAST YUM), the usual egg station, waffles, breads with jam, mee soto, porridge, nasi lemak, fruits... Omg it was really worth the whole $43 we paid for per night. 

The only regrets I had was not waking up earlier for breakfast so I can eat more. Lol.

After breakfast was nap time. 

And then Yat wondered why I put on so much weight. Zzz. It is totally his fault actually.

We woke up again about 2pm to head out for our massage. Wanted to do favial and scrub and jacuzzi bath but I thought I should really pity Yat and his wallet a bit so we settled on a 1.5hr aromatherapy massage at 130,000IDR ($13). I still feel like we could have got it cheaper somewhere else hahahaha. 

Then we got hungry again so we ate Mookata at King Kata. It is a Halal Mookata place located inside Nagoya Hill along their food street at their Ground Level.

One of the best Tom Yum soup I have ever tasted, really, even though Yat feels otherwise but I won't really vouch for Yat's taste in anything else but me. Also, order their Thai Ice Milk Tea, because it is so freaking nice!!! Total for the standard set for the Mookata was only about 183,000IDR and with two drinks it cost us less than 200,000IDR altogether. Quite worth it! I was so full after that late lunch at 5pm (lol).

Next, we caught a movie.

You know how usually when you go to Batam, the streets are usually not that clean because of the renovations, and when the whole mall reeks of cigarettes smell, you kind of expect the worse when you want to watch a movie in that mall?

I know I do. I was quite mentally prepared for sleazy seats and gross cinema studio, BUT OH MY GOD NOT THIS ONE!

Located on Level 2 of their mall, is Studio 21. Best thing about it is that inside, it is clean and carpeted. No one is allowed to smoke inside so the air is clean compared to the arcade outside. Most of the missing games in the arcade can probably be found in this place.

Unlike their arcade counterpart that uses coins, the games here require a card that is similar to the one we need at Timezone here in Singapore. The only difference is the cost of the games. To play Time Crisis 4 here cost only 3750IDR (37cents, really). You will have to purchase the game card at 1200IDR(12cents) and minimum top up is 10,000IDR ($1).

SAY WHATTTTTTT!!

We topped up 10,000 and managed to play Time Crisis for 2 players, Razing Storm for 2 players and Yat gets another go at Razing Storm again alone because that was all that is left in the card. I don't really know how the math works but yup. WE PAID $1 AND GET TO PLAY LIKE 5 TIMES ARE YOU KIDDING ME I WANT TO BE HERE FOREVER.

Almost wanted to top up another 10,000IDR so that we can play Time Crisis again lol.

We bought two tickets to watch Goosebumps and I just want to let you guys know that the movie tickets cost 25,000IDR each so that is like $2.50 per person, per movie.

So yup.

Also, $2.50 ticket to watch in a classy settings because...

PLUSH, CLEAN SEATS GUYS!

And IMAX screen. 

You cannot see it in here but I promise you that it is a super wide screen.

And their snack bar is pretty great too, except maybe they need to up their service time. Then again, they give you fresh fries, hot from the fryer. Something you don't really get in Singapore with a $9 weekday ticket and a nugget order that cost $6 with drinks.

What made us happier was that ALL, and I mean ALL, their service staffs are friendly and always smiling. YOU DON'T GET THAT IN SINGAPORE. 

The person you buy tickets from, smiles at you and say thank you. The person who is at the door says thank you and smiles at you. The person behind the snack bar talks to you and smile and says thank you to you. 

I feel so good to be there. Staffs from Cathay Cineplexes sure as hell don't smile at you if you are not buying the platinum suites tickets. Damnit.

Please up your service game guys. Thanks.

The staff who opens the door for you at the end of the movie greets you too, by the way. I love this studio already. I want to invest in them hahahhha.

After the movie, we thought of watching another movie but they don't really screen late night movies so we aborted the idea and went for dinner (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA).

We had a plate of chilli crab for 98,000IDR. I cannot really decide if that is cheap or not, probably yes compared to Mak's Place $25 crabs but ya okay sure it was cheap...er.

After chilli crab, we order a medium size pizza from Pizza Hut to bring back to the hotel that cost us about 76,000IDR ($7.60) which after we finished them all that I actually realized it was way cheaper than getting a slice of pizza at Pezzo in Singapore. Lol.

DAY THREE

Breakfast - Sleep - Check Out - Movie (Pan) - Cab to Harbour Bay Ferry Terrminal - Back to Singapore.

In short, it was a pretty worth it cheap escape from Singapore for 3 days if you ask me. We spent a total of $400, all inclusive (or less actually) for that 3 days for 2 pax and we ate a lot and did quite a bit.

I will most definitely come back here and repeat the same itinerary 6 months later.