The Batam Trip (16-17 April 2005)

DAY ONE

After an hour-long voyage, we arrive at the International Ferry Terminal at Sekupang. The town reminds me of the laid-back island of Pulau Ubin, when I was there some six years ago.

First stop is Southlinks Golf & Country Club. We offloaded the golfers before proceeding into the main town of Nagoya for some... ahem, Retail Therapy. First stop is Diamond Shopping Centre.

The design of the Shopping Centre is very poor, considering the fact that the escalators are only one-directional, and there are two 'up' escalators within 50 metres of each other, while the nearest 'down' escalator is quite a distance away.

Another thing I noticed is that most of the shops do not allow patrons to carry their shopping bags in, very much like Singapore circa 1990(An obsession with keeping would-be shoplifters at bay, I guess). The security guard even chased my mum out of the Supermarket and insisted that she kept her HANDBAG (Yep, you read it correctly) at the counter. This turned us off, and we left in a huff... Later on, though, our group of ten-odd rushed into the Supermarket with handbags and shopping bags. Heh, and we managed to beat the system... The hapless security guard could only wave us through with a sigh.

We tried a popular Indonesian dish - Savory fish cake (Pempek Palembang) at the Food Court. At 8,000 Rp apiece (That's around S$1.20), it's not exactly cheap for us, much less the locals.

We went to a Bookshop on the second floor, and bar several English-language magazines, everything else in the shop was in Bahasa! And not surprisingly, there were four shelves devoted to the Islamic Religion.

Haircut is CHEAP in Batam, at 3 bucks (14,000 Rp) for a cut and blow (For women only. I didn't opt for one, since i can get it at the same price at Gedong.). Pirated DVDs are also cheap, costing 15,000 Rp for one produced in Jakarta (Professed to be of inferior quality) and 20,000 Rp if produced in KL. We didn't get any, though, as they'd not be able to clear customs.

Next stop was Robinsons Shopping Centre. It is more upmarket here, as clothes sold here, ranging from 19,900 Rp to 149,000 Rp (S$3.50 to S$35), are pricey. I tried the Sosro Teh botol, which was a sweet, bottled version of our 'teh O bing' (Iced tea black). Apparently, it goes well with the Savory fish cake.

We went back to the Clubhouse for lunch, a sumpteous buffet spread of salmon puffs, stir-fried green leafy vegetables and the like). After lunch, we checked into our hotel - Planet Holiday, a rather nice hotel. We were lucky to be assigned a room on the tenth floor, with a balcony view of the sea and hills in the distance.

With two-odd hours free and easy, we trotted off in search of cheap wares along the back alleys of Nagoya with several of the golfers. But we were soon abandoned, when nearly all of them opted for a session of foot reflexology at a local massage shop.

It was a rather uneventful walk, the only draw being that of a dried foodstuff wholesaler that caught the eyes of my mum, who rampaged the shop mercilessly.

Dinner was at "Golden Prawn 555". To our dismay, the 'golden prawns' (fried crumbed prawns) were no larger than shrimps, the crab that was meant to feed ten SINGAPOREANS looked like it came from a Set Dinner for Two (I managed to lay my hands on a pincer, though), and the fruit platter was a pittance - There was hardly a piece of assorted fruit per diner. A disappointment!

DAY TWO

We started off the day with a buffet breakfast, before beginning our search for Pempek. At a local PemPek Palembang shop, our group ended up probably paying for the shop's rent for the month. Heh, the (Spending) power of tourism.

We went down to Diamond again. THis time round, I tried the curly fries at their A&W. True to its name, it is much better than our MacDonald's variant. And they packed Chili Sauce in little Ziplock bags together with the fries!

Lunch was a rushed affair, as we had to catch the 1525 ferry. The Prize presentation, which ended up being messed up, had to be conducted on board the ferry, and Dad won a Third placing in his Division, which came as a surprise even to himself.