Copied from another thread, courtesy of Audrey...

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Sorry that I update you guys so so late, have been busy after I came back！I would say I had a relax and nice trip there! arrived at batam centre terminal ard 11 am (missed the ferry that go to harbour bay). We are lucky that they allowed us to checked in once we reached the hotel. then we went to the food court behind to had our brunch, a2 foodcourt. I like the fish soup from first stall!! Then we ordered avocado juice too, but cannot finish it as the taste is abit weird for me. Then we shop at bcs, after that is spa and massage time!!! ! Thanks for recommend the spa secret to me! We like the environment and the staff there!! Should try their couple room!! Love the jacuzzi!! Then we had dinner at wey wey 2 restaurant. We actually asked the driver to send us to wey wey, but then he dropped us at ww 2 :( but overall we are statuary with the food they served! Thumbs up!

I just returned from my 2nd Batam trip last night.

The first time with 2 friends and this time I brought my mum, god ma, god aunt, my godma's bf, and 3 friends over. total of 8 pax.

I bought my tix online from Batam fast. and luckily I didn't get the promotional ticket. my mum mixed up the time of the departure from Singapore and we missed the ferry we were suppose to board. but we were lucky to have been able to change it to the next ferry to batam. upon arriving at 11.20am, I was picked up by 2 cars from ISABELLA SPA and MASSAGE HOUSE. (they provide free transport for my day! AMAZING! I saved $$ on taxi)

First, the drivers sent us to the famous TUA PEK KONG temple to pray. (they sell really nice kueh there. AMAZING fried tapioca and ONDEH ONDEH that BURST in your mouth with a full gula Melaka. a MUST TRY) then we headed right to ISABELLA SPA for a 2.5hrs full body scrub and massage. which I booked. after calculating, Rp430' 000 or SG$49 for that I decided to pay via SG$ as the exchange was cheaper. (my exchange rate was SG$1 to Rp7700) My godma and her bf paid in SG$ too as it was Rp 900'000 or SG$112 for the couple's 2.5hr of body scrub, bali massage and body mask. (yes, they do accept SG$)

I booked for the massage for 8pax at 2pm but most of us felt like heading for it at 12.30pm as we didn't wanna have lunch then massage (not very good for the tummy) ISABELLA accommodated to us and we started our massage at 12.30pm. we could request for soft, medium or hard massage according to our liking. 2.5hrs seemed to have flew past.... and we all were scrubbed clean and smooth. my mum who did a full body scrub loved it! everyone was happy with the service. after being served ginger tea, we headed to Nagoya hill for some snacks. we bought some kueh from the temple we went earlier and ordered some fruit juice and tea at the mall. we also had an arrangement to get the driver from ISABELLA to send us to a place for dinner at 6pm. but at 5.15pm, we couldn't take it anymore. too hungry even with the kueh. we then again request to go dinner early. by 5.25pm the drivers came and picked us up and sent us to SEAFOOD 79. Owned by a teochew family and we ordered in teochew. we hit it with the owner and diners get served free dessert. we ordered the following;

1 sambal Kangkung

1 battered sotong

1 gong gong

20 sticks of chicken satay

2 beansprouts with salted fish

3 crabs with salted eggs

1 cereal prawns

1 sambal petai

8 rice

1 durian juice

3 soursop juice

1 strawberry juice

4 red dragonfruit juice

Total came up to Rp 674'000.

After dinner, the driver from ISABELLA sent us to the ferry terminal at 7.15pm as we were due to take the 8.30pm ferry.

Overall, An Amazing trip. we all enjoyed ourselves.

Thanks Amy for your detailed trip report. I am sure many others who read this will find your post helpful. And especially glad you and your family got to enjoy your trip!

Cheeerrsss

Copied from another thread: Thanks MAr2806 for the report!

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anyway guys just to share.. my batam trip went well!!

got d spa from eska to fetch us from batam center ferry terminal. he was early. that's gd news. spa was great as well!!

after spa, walked around at nagoya hills. had lunch at pizza hut. d menu is different from in spore. and service was great. they are super courteous bunch!!

after a bit of more walking, d hotel shuttle fetch us from nagoya hills back to the hotel. it was raining in the afternoon so the driver was slightly late. we had j-co while waiting.

so my last plan was to go to rezeki right? d "supir" that i already made arrangement with backed out last min.. so upon reaching d hotel, i asked d concierge if they could arrange a cab to go batu besar. i was charged 240000idr for that trip. i seriously don't know if it is expensive but i was left with no choice.

Dinner was great!!! Price was affordable and food was delicious..

Oh did I write that the hotel I stayed in got awesome view!!

Overall, my 1st stay in batam was pleasant in an excellent way..

Thanks for chipping in ideas guys.. :)

Lala, my turn to share^^

Just came back from a 2d1n trip in Batam. Really thanks a lot to Chandrana and Yali for the accompany and advice. Both of you just lovely and fun.

For the ferry part, since i decided to arrive at Harbour Bay and to leave at Batam Center, i tried to search on the internet for price and schedule on different service provider but the only website that i found is the Batam Fast. My mistake in didn't notice that the ticket counter close 40min before the departure, which cause us missed the ferry to Harbour Bay. The ticket seller then suggested me to buy the next ferry which destination is Batam Center and i have to wait for another hour. Guess what, just after i bought the ticket to Batam Center, i realized that there are few ferry service provider which i can still buy the ticket to Harbour Bay without waiting for another hour. AND...even i bought the ticket from the Batam Fast, but the ferry belong to another company instead. So, my advice, don't panic if you miss the ferry, just try another service provider.

Oh well, another thing to mention, the smoke free signs are everywhere in the ferry, BUT...

Ok, my good luck finally start when i met Chandrana. He took us to have Citra Pempek. Oh...i love the Pempek Kulit soooo much. And the special sauce, the perfect match with pempek. The fried noodles and fried vermicelli are so much different with the Malaysian style. LOVE IT!!!

We have dinner at the ADI-8. The Ayam Bawang is soooo yum. And the prawn, the crunchy shell is my favourate part as i am those gal that lazy to remove the shell. Oh the fish....till now also dunno what kind of fish is that but it taste really nice!!!! The otak-otak is totally different with the Malaysian style. Love it.

Then comes to the spa and massage part. I am quite fastidious about the cleanliness, really do not want to lie on an oily mattress and would like to have a cozy environment, so i pick The Spa Secret. They served us in a couple room with nice decoration and soft music. The experienced therapists always concern about our feeling, didn't chat with each other during the service....overall i'm very satisfied with it.

We stayed in the Harris Hotel Batam Center. It cost us RM170 for a double room per night, and the room is totally out of my expectation. It is clean and cozy. The design is simple and young, orange is their theme colour which makes us fell fresh. The bell boy and receptionist always welcome us with smiling face. The best part, it is just right beside the ferry terminal. Oh, they even help me to post my postcard.

The Maha Vihara Duta Maitreya is the only tourist spot that i visited in this trip. Thanks again for the advice from Chandrana, it cost us 60k rupiah for a round trip.The temple is huge!!! There are school and vegetarian restaurant behind the temple. Oh yes, the vegetarian food is fantastic there. We have our breakfast there but unfortunately we didn't manage to get the angry bird bun that Yihanz mentioned. However, i have tried their Char Siu Bun, quite nice.

For those coffee lover, don't miss the Excelso Cafe in the Mega Mall Batam Centre. They serve Luwak in Syphon. However, the barista looks abit mechanize. Or you can choose to be your own barista, i saw the local did that. He made his own Luwak Syphone.

All in all, i have an amazing trip in Batam. Great to know Chandrana and his wife Yali.

Oh btw, i'm still very regretful that i didn't manage to buy a postcard from there. Does anyone knows where to buy postcard in Batam??

hey Lian Yi,

It was great meeting the both of you too. Thanks for the trip report! And thanks for sharing. i am sure it will help others in many ways!

We went to Spa Secret the next evening after yours. And omg, the honey spa smells so nice. And they really added some nice decor to the room. Better than the last time I went there. And I got lucky with my masseuse, she was darn on spot!

I will look around for a postcard. If i find one, I will mail it to you okay.

Cheeerrsss

Hey Lian Yi,

Thanks for remembering me! hahaha. Touched!!

Haha, Chandrana, thanks in advance^^

Yihanz, of course i remember you. Do let me know if you are coming to KL.

If i'm going Genting, will you be convenient to meet there? lol.

Thank you Polaris for such a wonderful trip report. This is copied from another thread.

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My trip: 29th Mar (Good Friday) - 31st Mar (Sun); leisure holiday

If you were to go Batam via Harborfront on a public holiday, my advice is to get the ferry tix online; in the case of BatamFast, you can print out the boarding pass e-ticket; hassle free,just remember to take the white cards at the BatamFast side counter (do not need to queue); alternatively u can get the white cards at the Batam ferry terminal too (but by then the crowd and the q will put u off) Singaporeans do not need Visa (VOA: Visa On Arrival) unless you are on work trip.. US$25 fyi..

As for the ferry terminals, depending on where you want to go, HarborBay; Batam Centre; Sekupang; Waterfront etc..

Nagoya area -- HarborBay ferry terminal nearest

Batam Centre -- Batam Centre ferry terminal

Batam Indopark, KTM resort etc -- Sekupang

Beach resorts -- Nongsapura terminal

Water activities; seasports -- Waterfont city ferry terminal

Basically what Singaporeans r looking for in Batam...

1) A&W: Our childhood..waffles, rootbeer float, curly fries...ahhhh... Batam got 2 outlets; one at Batam Centre Megamall; the other at Nagoya Hill Mall (NHM); However, do take note in Indonesia, KFC is more worth to try, the tenderness of the meat is yummy, unlike sg! Pizza hut is much more affordable and comes in more flavours compared to sg, yepz

2)IndoMie/Mee Sedup: NTUC sell so ex! In Batam, you can literally buy in cartons of 40 packets.. if u think is a hassle, transfer the packets into a bag and wun be so bulky anymore! Other than noodles, the sauce itself is available in the Hypermarts! Both NHM and Megamall got these Hypermarts and items inside are freaking cheaper! Imagine baby diapers at 1/3 of NTUC price! yupz

3) Spa/Massage: If you have browsed through this forum, massage can go Sports Massage or IndoThai.. while for spa.. go for SpaSecret or Isabella.. for spa on weekend/public holiday, do visit the online websites n make booking first!

4) Seafood: hmmmm...Due to Groupon etc, the once famous Golden Prawn 555 n 999 both cui alrdy, if you prefer zhi char style, go for Weywey seafood (near HarborBay) or Adi-8 (Komplek Anggrek Pamal Blok B No.6)... for kelong experience; go for Sri Rezeki

5) Food: Other than the fast food n seafood, there are ranges from Satay (20+ types).. there is a Satay club near Batam City Square (BCS), A2 food court which is also near BCS, mee goreng, padang cuisine, nice beef balls (opp of Megamall); the streetfood is nice but recommended to tag along a local if you dunnoe Bahasa Indonesian or Malay. At NHM, the recommended eateries/places are Grand Duck, Happiness, Ayam Penyet Ria. In fact there is a food street in NHM.

6)Kueh Lepis: Golden View that area do have some nice ones, but being a touristy zone, might be quite costly, NHM BCS Megamall these 3 malls have outlets with the testers for you to try before u buy.. Diana Layer Cake is nice! With thick butter taste, yet not so oily..

7)Seasports/Water activities: Waterfront city .. but may be quite costly since is tourist zone

8) Resort: Montigo is the best!!!

9) Beach: Turi has the nicest beach

10) Misc. travel location: Other than the big temple (Groupon day package usually have this in the itenary) and the Barelang Bridge (please go while the sky is still bright, night time dark nothing to admire); not much major attractions; basically as what many pointed out Batam is a place for eat shop spa massage ..and MOVIE, the Cinema XXI theater systems r comparable and surpass our SG ones!!! the sound system is marvellous! And if you happen to watch movie which u shud since movie tix is like RP30,000 (less than SGD$4), do get urself a Fries, yepz apparently it is the best Fries in Batam!!! Another activity u can do is... FIREWORKS... apparently at the basement of BCS, u can get them...as for whr to play them, maybe u all can ask Richard, 1 of the destination xpert in diz forum..

Concerns Singaporeans might have:

1)Internet access: Most hotels have free WIFI. For prepaid cards, they are pretty affordable, recommend the Indostat, RP50,000 (SGD$6.4+) can get u one mth plan! If you are at NHM, there is a Indostat branch just opposite of JCO (near the fountain area, you will c one "zebra crossing"

2)Taxi vs Driver vs ownself drive: Batam tourism flourished based on non-metered cab system and $ exchange.. so get used to the non-metered cab system.. Similar to Malaysia, we negotiate the price,haggle abit then get into the cab.. In fact if you are in hotels, they have their own transport services.. You will only require a driver if u are intending to cover many areas in 1 day.. Batam centre and Nagoya is just 15min driving distance apart and that do not need driver!!! but if you are intending to go far like the Waterfront or the Barelang bridge away from Nagoya, Batam centre area then u may consider hiring a driver.. Another thing is try dun get a cab in the middle of no where..

If you are driving yourself somehow, Batam does not have the coupon system (unlike Sg), haha hurray! no Summons! but then at every parking place, there will be a person kinda like the "carkpark attendant" of that place, so give him about RP2000 (SGD$0.25) after you parked and about to leave the carpark.

3) Safety: Batam is a relatively safe place; especially compared to JB i guess.. You are their source of income in Batam and sure they will not risk spoiling their reputation.. of coz that doesnt warrant u to flaunt your riches around; dun invite trouble for urself..

4) Money exchange: Almost everywhere is the same rate...but all better than Singapore unless those "popular" ones like those in Bishan J8 etc..

5) Ferry Terminal procedure: Try to check in like 1h before boarding/departure of the ferry and do take note that Batam time is GMT +7...For those using the E-ticket boarding passes from BatamFast, do use that e-ticket to exchange for the BatamFast (Batam site) boarding pass as they dun do the QR barcode scanning at their terminal check-in points..

6) Which ferry terminal? HarborBay is the nearest to Nagoya and only 2 ferries go there.. Prima Ferry and BatamFast; and one semi-active ferry provider.. so basically traffic is quite standard in HB as compared to BC terminal where pp dun just go back Singapore, there r pp going places like Malaysia etc so traffic is heavier!

7) Which Hotel? Nagoya wise-- If you just want proximity to NHM, will be The Hills, Noveno and IHotel.. Hotel nearest to HarborBay terminal is SwissBelhotel HarborBay (newest in Batam and pretty comfy! dun confuse with SwissInn and SwissBelhotel Batam) ; Pacific Palace Hotel is also of proximity to HB terminal.. for proximity to BCS, it will be BCC hotel where u can access A2 foodcourt easily and also the Satay club..

8) Which spa? Spa secret has a few prestigious awards; it uses atas Jacuzzi with nice ambiance ; Isabella offers transport and have some nice techniques ..

9) Chillout zones? There is a club known as No Name but can be quite messy, haha.. If you are staying near HarborBay terminal, there is a stretch of pubs nearby nice to chill out too..

10) Who to consult? The destination experts: Chandra and Richard are very experienced in Batam.. Chandra is in Nagoya area while Richard is in Batam Centre area... Other than them, Yihanz is also another Batam lover, he is a Singaporean that is out to try out the different hotels in Batam! How cool is that right!

Overall, Batam is a nice place to relax, try out cheap seafood and fast food, stock up on supermarket stuff, massage/spa (since Thailand too far).. the people here are pretty friendly and service oriented, no wonder the tourism industry here has been blooming! I heard that a typical Batam local earn about SGD$800 a month, so yah life is tough for them but they provide good service, and thus, do respect them!!! OK, and that ends my sharing session! Selamat Datang every1 !!!