Hey. Sunday just got back form Batam. Quite a disappointing trip. Haha. The Hotel & Ferry & Food experience is so disappointing!


But the trip with family & also the time spent swimming & have fun, is priceless.


Let me share the experience with the readers.


Saturday morning, went out straight to Harbour Front to purchase tickets for the ferry at 1210hrs. Have got to check in by 1130hrs. So we went tfor a quick bite at McD. Ordered a Big Breakfast for myself, Noshi had a Fillet meal, and Hyder had Hotcakes Happy meal which comes along with a "DRAGON"(as per mummy's defination). End up the "DRAGON" became Hyder's faithful travel companion. Haha.


This Dinosaur, oppsss, i mean "DRAGON". Hehe. This "DRAGON" was in Hyder's hands all the way thru the trip, the ferry ride, the cab ride, the time he sits in bed, the time he is going to sleep, the time he wakes up, the time he is eating and all things else, this "DRAGON" is around. Thanked him for being around and occupying my son's time.

The other thing about this "DRAGON" is that he can open his mouth & bite. So Hyder will put his CUTEFATFINGERS into the "DRAGON's" mouth & start shouting. Trying to express the hurt he is feeling. Haha. Isn't that cute. And to come from a kid of 1 year 6 months is utmost cuteness to the max. Mummy Noshi is extemely scared of it. Haha.

Moving on. When we arrived the hotel staff is nice. We checked in and went fo a bite at the nearby eating place in hopes of looking for Nasi Padang. Sadly, we didn't find it. We found a place selling Nasi Kucing. Haha. Actually there were no CATS at all. Not around the area nor on the menu. Basically they don't sell Cats. It's just a term. The Nasi Kucing consist of white rice and tempe with ikan bilis cut into small pieces and 2 slices of tempe which i tasted like chicken. Noshi ate Nasi Goreng Special.

It rained while we were on the way to look for food. After food, it still rained. Wo we walk back to the hotel and went swimming. The pool was great. Slide, fountains, kids area, baby area and also a beach like pool. Love the pool.

The bad part starts after all this good stuff. Haha. First we wanted to go Nagoya Hill and called the Limo Service. On the way there the driver kept convincing us to take him the whole day, and like reluctant to bring us far. So we ended up in Batam Centre which we had gone the first time we went to Batam, but it doesn't matter, cos our only target was Matahari.

When we were alighting, i gave him 100k for the fare of 95k. i wasn't expecting for a change but the way he put it, pisses me off again, "Oh, saya nggak ada tukar. Gi mana ya?" I just walk off with my wife and son.

Walked in Batam Centre and ate at this place. Forgot the name. But from now on i am going to call that place, "RAT's CORNER". We ate there and there was a rat underneath our table. Luckily it didn't went up our legs. Haha. Talking about it now, make me feel so geli and feel like nak puke. Haha.

All other experience in Batam Centre was fine. i like the guy who sold the sandals. He was so into selling his sandals that he brought out his lighter and start burning his leather sandals. Showing that it was made of real leather. Of course it won't get burnt, cos u show me in such a short time. the heat can't even penetrate the leather. What if i burn it for 30 mins, can u assure that the leather is a genuine one? Huh? Haha. But his enthusiasm was good and customer service was great. He clear the food that my son dropped on the floor using his hands. Where can u get that in Singapore? In Singapore, even before u enter the shop, there is a sign saying no food and drink.

Went back to the hotel and it rained again and the umbrella at the stand was all taken. So were made a detour when we say a couple of frogs on the pavement on the way to our room. A U-turn was made and we went thru the rain just so we can avoid the frogs. Haha. Slept when we reach the room.

Sunday morning, woke up and went for a swim again. the water was extremely cold that we all shivered when we entered the pool. Hahaha. Swimming was the only fun thing for this trip. Now Hyder can walk in the water. Although he looks like he was walking on the moon. He took big steps and like wanted to jump with every step he take. But he soon realise that, that was not the way for walking in water. so he learnt to take small, slow steps. This kid is so clever i tell u that i never loved a kid more than i LOVE him. Mummy, loved the pool session too.

After all that, get ready to go out for lunch at the nearby place. This time we found the Nasi Padang place, but the funniest thing is that, they sell beer. So i went up to them, "Kamu jual beer ya?"

The girl replied, "Iya."

With a shocking expression on my face, i then asked, "Tapi makanan nya HALAL? Dan kamu jual beer?"

She replied with an expressionless face, "Iya, kami jual aja, makanan nya semua halal."

Then, i said "Trima kasih ya." and walked off.

That was a shocking experience for me. Haha. It's like saying, "i sell pork but the rest of the food is halal and edible for Muslims. We are just selling it. Not asking the Muslim customers to buy or eat it. So it is ok for them to buy other food other than pork." And FYI, it is never ok for that to happen. That is a totally a non-ethical way of doing business. If u cater Halal food only, INSHA'ALLAH, God will help u thru the business, but if u sell beer just to get more money from ur business, the "barakah" is taken away and all u get is money without "barakah". It's better to get little profit with loads of "barakah" then get alot of money with no "barakah" at all.

So felt disappointed and went to the room and ordered room service instead. The food wasn't that great though.

The last thing that pisses me off is that, we checked out and happily went to the terminal. Then on the immigration counter we were turned away by the immigration officer for not having a white card. I was so angry, cos the person who checked us out was the exact person who checked us in. How can u forget that u took that thing for us. That was a practise u guys do, booking a ferry for us, how can u guys forget? Holiday Inn Batam really got no system when it comes to this. Luckily the hotel is near. What if the hotel is far and the ferry needs to go off? What if the ferry that go off is the last ferry for the day? I am totally pissed of by this to the max i tell u. Arggh. But actually now ok ardy la. I am just saying. Haha. And just for the record, we didn't miss the ferry. The ppl at the immigration place is a pain in the ass, they saw my wife carrying my son sleeping, they ordered her to go down and call me up. They are so cruel i tell u. There are 4 of u, why can't 1 of them offer thier service to call me up. Nvm la. All aside, and we are safe back from the trip and learnt a lesson from it. No more BATAM for us at the moment.

Next destination, probably, we will leave from Changi Ferry Terminal. U guess the place.

Labels: Family, Holidays, Hyder