BATAM HOLIDAY!

1st July 2010.

I had been excited about this trip for ages and ages! At first, we planned to go with Mummy and Ayah and of course Tufeil, maybe even stay overnight. But when i discovered that Tufeil had to pay close to an Adult's ferry fare, plus I would hafta sponsor one of my parents as well as pay for my one, decided could not afford it.

Mummy miraculously allowed me to go alone (read: without baby) with Ash who needs to take a SPA break before starting her new job! We did not stay overnight as it will incur more expenses.

In the run up to the day, i was surfing around for information about Batam. http://www.batamholidays.com/ was a good source of information for a newbie like me - though they could have given more details on the retail shops. I couldn't help but be tempted by the spa packages!! Eg: There's an SGD98 Spa package at Mustika Ratu incl ferry, Massage, Scrub, HydroBath and HAir CreamBath. But Ash told me don't bother cause the place we're going to are way wayyyy cheaper!

We didn't even book anything because we were worried about our periods or of any other misfortunes that we cldn't go. But that fateful Thursday morning, we went out as usual taking a ride with Ayah to Little India and then took the NEL to HarbourFront. and then bought our tickets...

From Penguin services.

View from the Departure Hall

At the waiting area after checking-in but before the gate.

In the ferry!

As it turned out, the boat was less than 50% filled! We were worried about buying tickets at the last minute for nothing! haha

It was impossible for me to catch a nap. I listened to my audiobook, instead. Lucky i was armed with my earphone which i sometimes forget to bring with me.

1hour later, we reached the harbours of foreign land. haha

That was the boat we took.

We went out to get a cab. On the way there, Ash told me that the fare should be around just SGD4 @ 6000 = 24 - 30,ooo Rph. We told each other than we shouldn't pay more than 35,000. But when we reached the taxi stand, we were issued coupon to Nagoya @ Rph 45,000!! we started to bargain but the guys showed us a price chart said its regulated by the govt? We then agreed but now tt i think about it, it sounded phoney. I mean THEIR government regulating cabfares? That sounds quite far fetched!

When we arrived, we paid him with Rph50,000 and he said he didnt have change. So we went out to break the money at the money changer but they cant give us smaller denominations. We told the same to the cab driver and a BIG argument ensued with everybody including the security guards looking on. Ash was very brave telling off the driver. he was trying to keep the change for himself, that was the strategy but we out right refused~! We already thought 45k rph was daylight robbery! In the end, the guards intervened and gave us the small change.

What a bad start to a relaxing day for Ash! Blood pressure went up unnecessarily.

Salon Christopher

We "checked in" to Salon Christopher to get ALLLL our spa things done there. Ash said that they seemed to have expanded since last she been there.

The Massage rooms separated by curtains. If you know each other you can draw them open.

I got my massage 30min, scrub, sauna and shower. That already took 2hours possibly. It was lunch time and my tummy was making some noises as the last meal was McDonald's Bfast some 4 hours ago! So i went out for awhile to get my favourite thing in the world:


J CO DONUTS!!!!

I only bought 3 as i tot we would probably be going to get lunch soon as we finish.

We continued with our Pedi & Manicure. I Got a headstart bcos ASh has a 60min massage. When i finished i asked them for a room to pump my milk. Luckily there were not many pple around and they could adhere to my requests. I felt very sad to throw my hard earned expressed milk away but i had to since there's no place to store them, it would turn bad anyways. Besides, Tufeil has not been drinking eBM much and so i have lotsa frozen ones still.

Total Damage: 323,000 Rph about S$50 maybe less.

I announced that i was famished but Ash said she was still full from the heavy bfast. My jaw dropped! She said we should do our shopping first before we can eat. If i knew she'd say that, I wouldn't give her 1 whole donut so she'd feel hungry and we could eat like... NOW! GRRRR

We were catching the 7.40pm ferry and it was close to 5pm. I couldn't find a suitable bag for mummy - a token for looking after Tufeil - and i felt horrible. So we decided to get a move on so maybe we could find something at MEGAMALL - a shopping centre just next to the ferry terminal. but before that, a proper dinner. Sort of.

A&W!!!

Mozza Burger

Quite alright but you should have seen Ash's portion of 2pc chicken. MINUSCULE i tell ya! No wonder not many pple dined here and preferred KFC next door.

Thank God there was no traffic jam despite the supposedly rush hour. At megaMall, we hit the supermarket like crazy running around like a gameshow. My sole purpose was to get DIAPERS!!! I've heard pple told me its CRAZY cheap here. As cheap as $10!! But... NO ley... its only $3 cheaper. *shrug* Maybe I should go to street vendor or something. BAH. But we hauled a LOT OF crackers back home.

And ended up looking like makcik2 balik pasar kind you know! (Aunties back from market)

Initially, i wanted to bring a trolley luggage to put our shopping inside but we thought it would be bulky for us to pull it around at the spa bla bla bla. Then tot of the foldable huge market Bag. But that would be more like a makcik2. So we decided to just lugg them. *roll eyes*

THE WHOLE LOOT

In the end, i spent more on Tufeil in 10min than i did pampering myself at the spa in 3hours. While the spa was ok, I wished I had been to a more established spa and a women's only. As I didn't get to do my hair treatment bcos of this reason. Ash said that we came home more tired than usual carrying the heavy bags and rushing around. She promised that the next time we go there, we shall stay overnight. Woohoooo!!