{"id":148,"date":"2008-07-16T22:25:40","date_gmt":"2008-07-16T14:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lowsweetling.com\/mylife\/2008\/07\/16\/our-batam-trip-day-2\/"},"modified":"2022-04-23T12:04:15","modified_gmt":"2022-04-23T12:04:15","slug":"our-batam-trip-day-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lowsweetling.com\/mylife\/2008\/07\/16\/our-batam-trip-day-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Batam Trip – Day 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning! I woke up at 6+AM (BT) and went to peek through the curtains, to catch a view of the sea. I was blinded by the bright sunlight and couldn’t see anything at all! We were supposed to meet at 8:00AM (BT) and it was still so early.. maybe I should get more sleep……..<\/p>\n

I was woken up by the room phone. “Are you all ready??” Opps, it was already 8:00AM (BT)! I had went back to sleep without setting the alarm! I woke JR up, jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom to wash up and change.<\/p>\n

Ready for breakfast! Let’s go.<\/p>\n

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Nice morning view<\/p>\n

Breakfast<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Time:<\/strong> 08:30AM (BT)<\/p>\n

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Frying our eggs<\/p>\n

The guy on the left was making roti prata on the spot. The chicken curry was delicious but super salty.<\/p>\n

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Our table of food<\/p>\n

Finished our breakfast at 09:20AM (BT). We didn’t dare to eat too much as we planned to go straight for water sports after breakfast.<\/p>\n

Turi’s Water Sports Station<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Time:<\/strong> 09:30AM (BT)<\/p>\n

A very nice sunny day to start with. We made our way to Turi’s Water Sports Station, which opens at 9:00AM (BT) daily. We decided to begin with Snorkeling first.<\/p>\n

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Let’s take photos<\/p>\n

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The speed boat that will bring us out to sea<\/p>\n

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We were given a life jacket each.<\/p>\n

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JR getting ready<\/p>\n

Snorkeling<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Time: 09:40AM (BT)<\/p>\n

The guy at the Water Sports Station recommended No Man’s island to us and told us that the water is very clear there. We got ready with our life jackets and swimming flippers. Yee Sze & I had difficulties finding a suitable flipper of our size. I managed to find a pair which was the smallest, but still a little loose.<\/p>\n

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Us on the speed boat<\/p>\n

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Further & further we go, away from land.<\/p>\n

We stopped somewhere near No Man island and were given a snorkel mask set each. Then I suddenly realised that we were required to jumped into the sea then.. Oh my god, jump into the sea??? Yusin jumped in without hestitation and Yee Sze followed almost instantly. JR ensured that his snorkel mask and drain snokel were in place and went down too, leaving me on the speed boat.<\/p>\n

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Couldn’t really remember how long I was sitting on the edge of the speed boat. I even considered withdrawing from the activity but…<\/p>\n

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Look at me! The water is up to my neck!<\/p>\n

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Adjusting my mask & drain snorkel<\/p>\n

I managed to put my head into the water after sometime, it wasn’t that scary afterall. However, I still didn’t dare to let go off JR. Whenever I swim, my hands need to hold on to something that will float – JR, in this case. The water wasn’t that clear afterall! We didn’t get to see fishes and coarals.<\/p>\n

I lost balance a few times while swimming. JR & I were wondering if the flippers will sink or float when suddenly JR stepped on my flipper just when I was\u00c2\u00a0lifting my leg! My right flipper came out and disappear. A pair is always a pair, my left flipper slip out from my feet too!<\/p>\n

Fortunately, Yee Sze happened to be aware of the situation and started looking for my flippers. Hahahaha, she emerged out of the water holding onto both of my flippers, waving them in the air.<\/p>\n

We continue to swim on after retriving my flippers. We swam to a small island and took photos.<\/p>\n

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We made it!<\/p>\n

It was almost 11:00AM (BT) and all of us were tired of snorkeling (as there was nothing to see under the sea). We boarded the speed boat and went back to the resort. Cost = IDR201K (S$30) for 2.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Swimming at Tiria Wing<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Time:<\/strong> 11:10AM (BT)<\/p>\n

Oops, we had forgotten about applying sun block \/ sun tan lotion on ourselves before going out into the sun earlier!<\/p>\n

Everyone was happily swimming, swimming, swimming… I can only sit walk, sit walk and sit walk around the pool…<\/p>\n

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OK, that’s enough of rest. Let’s continue with our next activity – the banana boat.<\/p>\n

Banana Boat<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Time:<\/strong> 12:00PM (BT)<\/p>\n

A banana boat is an unpowered boat designed to be pulled by a larger boat. Riders sit astride a large tube which is supported by 2 smaller tubes which provide balance and footrest, allowing the riders to experience the thrill of moving fast.<\/p>\n

We selected the 15 minutes package which is S$8 per person. Cost = S$8 for 1.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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The Banana Boat<\/p>\n

The four of us climbed up the banana boat, Yee Sze right in front, followed by Yusin, me and JR at the end.<\/p>\n

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I didn’t know that the banana boat is such an exciting type of water sports hence, was not really afraid of it in the beginning.<\/p>\n

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Leaning to the left and right to prevent falling over<\/p>\n

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But still fell over…<\/p>\n

It was totally unexpected! I didn’t expect that to happen. It was horrible. The seawater is so salty. Hahahaha… We overcome the first fall and were once again on the banana boat but… twice…<\/p>\n

JR lost his spectacles during the 2nd fall. He fell head down into the water and it just disappear. It was over 15 minutes already and we asked the guy to end the game.<\/p>\n

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On the way back, he made us fall into the sea again! 3rd time!!! Horrible & unexpected.<\/p>\n

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Swimming at <\/strong>Riani Wing<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Time:<\/strong> 12:30PM (BT)<\/p>\n

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YS\u00c2\u00b2 deciding on drinks<\/p>\n

Yusin ordered Fruit Punch & Yee Sze ordered Shirley Temple<\/p>\n

JR & I shared a glass of Shirley Temple. Cost = IDR122K (S$18.21) for 4.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Drinking in the pool<\/p>\n

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Look! I’m swimming at the 2.4m pool!<\/p>\n

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We swam, talked and played in the pool till 2:00PM (BT).\u00c2\u00a0 Time to wash up and go to Town.<\/p>\n

JR arranged with Turi Resort for a car transport to bring us out to Town. The car arrived at 3:30PM (BT). Initially we wanted to take a ride out to town and maybe called for another cab back to the resort. But the driver kept asking if we need his service for the rest of the day. His charges were quite high and we were very relectant in the beginning. Then he started lowering his fees. We managed to find a compromise – IDR350K (S$52.24).\u00c2\u00a0 Cost = IDR350K (S$52.24) for 4.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Our first target – In search of Polo Ralph store. The driver was unable to understand us and brought us to Polo! We went in to take a look since we were already there.<\/p>\n

Time:<\/strong> 3:45PM (BT)<\/p>\n

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We left shortly after and set off to Batam Shopping Centre (BSC) @ Nagoya.<\/p>\n

Batam Shopping Centre<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Time:<\/strong> 04:10PM (BT)<\/p>\n

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The most important thing to do here is to look for a spectacles shop to replace JR’s lost specs. JR had wore my old specs temporary. Found one shop that may be able to do the specs within a few hours. However, JR didn’t really trust the optician there and decided to get daily disposable contact lens instead.<\/p>\n

Cost = IDR220K (S$32.84).<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Yeah! Clear vision again.<\/p>\n

We were all famished at this time. Our last meal was breakfast. We chose to have dinner at Breeks.<\/p>\n

Breeks<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Time:<\/strong> 05:00PM (BT)<\/p>\n

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So many selections<\/p>\n

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JR’s<\/p>\n

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Yee Sze’s<\/p>\n

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Mine<\/p>\n

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JR’s Steak with Mushroom Sauce & Yusin’s Steak with Black Pepper Sauce<\/p>\n

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Shared food<\/p>\n

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Yee Sze’s Seafood Baked Rice<\/p>\n

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My Dory Fish & Spaghetti<\/p>\n

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Desserts – Ours & YS\u00c2\u00b2’s<\/p>\n

Cost = IDR347K (S$51.79) for 4<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

We left BSC at 06:00PM (BT) and met our driver at the BSC entrance. He introduced to us Universal Massage, which is located just opposite BSC.<\/p>\n

Universal Massage<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Time: <\/strong>06:10PM (BT)<\/p>\n

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We took the 120 minutes @ IDR80K package. We were led to the 2nd level and each of us was given a “room” seperated from the other by curtains. Our feet were washed and told to change into the shorts that was provided in each room. Our massage began! We had chosen the Thai mix Bali massage though I’m unable to tell which is which. Anyway, the massage was much better than the one we had on the first day – so much cheaper too…<\/p>\n

YS\u00c2\u00b2 were given ginger tea during their massage. JR & I didn’t get that! Not sure why.. Maybe the girls at Universal Massage like them more.. hahahahaha…<\/p>\n

Cost = IDR80K (S$11.94) for 1.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Megamall<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Time:<\/strong> 08:00PM (BT)<\/p>\n

We came out of Universal Massage around 07:40PM (BT) and headed to Megamall for more shopping. We realised that this driver is slightly different than the one that we had the day before. He will wait for us at each place that we were at. David will go around ferrying other passengers when we were away.<\/p>\n

We had drinks again at A&W. JR & I shared a glass of root beer. Cost = IDR9.7K (S$2.90).<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

After our nice & cooling drink, we went around searching for lotions to apply on JR’s & Yusin’s sunburnt skins. Nobody seems to understand what we wanted. All of them thought that we wanted sunblock \/ suntan lotions.<\/p>\n

The products sold in the supermarket are super affordable and cheap. We got facial wash. Shampoo is cheap as well but we couldn’t bring so much back to Singapore hence didn’t get any. Cost = IDR44K (S$6.57) for 3 tubes.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Next, we were attracted to J.CO donuts. Each couple bought half a dozen of donuts. We also got ourselves Blended Green Tea. We didn’t know that a glazed donut comes with the drink. Nice, nice, nice!<\/p>\n

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Cost = IDR58.5K (S$8.73) for 2 – half dozen donuts + blended green tea<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

It’s almost 09:30PM(BT) – Time for Dinner!<\/p>\n

Nagoya Foodcourt<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Time:<\/strong> 09:40PM (BT)<\/p>\n

It wasn’t too far from Megamall. Nagoya Foodcourt is really big and was full of local people. Since we were all not hungry, we decided to “da bao” back to the resort and eat.<\/p>\n

We bought:<\/p>\n