Travel Diary #3: Batam

My 3rd travel diary is on a short trip to Batam, Indonesia and it is the final trip before bidding farewell to 2015.

That was not my 1st time visiting Batam although I thought it would be my historic first visit there. My parents told me that I've been to Batam when I was 3 years old. I could hardly remember where I have been to when I was 3 or 4 years old. The worst part is I am still trying to remember boarding the cruise when I was 3 years old. Anyway, I am going to document everything I have experienced during that short trip in Batam. Though it's short, it was a wonderful trip.

My family and I went to the Singapore Cruise Centre at Harbourfront Centre at around 7am to have breakfast. After that, we collected our ferry tickets and checked in at the departure gate. 

Tourists waiting to board the ferry.

The ferry that we were boarding to Batam, the Queen Star 3.

As the queue was long before boarding the ferry, we could hardly find connecting seats on the first level. We went up the stairs and found the connecting seats whereas for the rest who arrived later, they opened the door at the back and seated outside to enjoy the view.

It took around an hour to reach the Batam Centre Ferry Terminal. While queuing up for the immigration, I'm sure many tourists are not blind and could follow the instructions given by the immigration authority, that is remaining silent while queuing up. However, it was disappointing to see some tourists shouting across. Fortunately for them, they were not caught by the officers. I've seen reports on the newspapers that tourists were denied entry to Batam as they could not follow such a "simple instruction". While some tourists may call it strict, a rule is a rule and you have to follow it. Different countries have different laws, as long as you follow it, your holiday plans will not be ruined. Be quiet for minutes would not make you suffocate or getting a disease. 

The journey began with a guided tour. The guided tour mostly consisted of shopping at the Polo Ralph Lauren outlet (I've been there when I was in Bali), factory outlets, Kueh Lapis shop, chocolate shop and Batam City Square. In the middle of the shopping trip, we went to a temple and also ate a seafood lunch.

The guided tour ended after shopping at Batam City Square and we moved on to the resort for check-in. However, as most tourists inside the mini bus were staying inside the hotel for a night, we had to switch to another mini bus in order to go to the resort as the whole journey took around 40 minutes. The resort that we were staying was Montigo Resorts, which is located in Nongsa. There was another alternative way to reach Montigo Resorts was to take the ferry at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal and would be there around 30 minutes.

We have booked a villa at Montigo Resorts and as I went in our villa, I immediately gave a definite 2 thumbs up. 

1st storey - Living room with a kitchen bar.

INFINITY POOL outside the living room.

COMPLIMENTARY and REFILLABLE DRINK BAR (Tapioca chips not included)

2nd storey - Master Bedroom with a wonderful sea view

Twin Bedroom, also with a wonderful sea view

Bathtub in the master bedroom

3rd storey - Outdoor Villa

We went to swim inside the infinity pool before heading to a western restaurant, Tadd's, since the resort is far away from the city area.

Tadd's Restaurant, taken in the next morning while having breakfast

Complimentary Bread accompanied with Chopped Kiwi Fruit.

Big bowl of Mushroom Soup (IDR 85,000)

Smoked Salmon Caesar Salad (IDR 95,000)

Special Drink of the Week - Flower Sensation (Citrus with blue flower syrup) (IDR 65,000)

Traditional Gado Gado Salad (IDR 90,000)

Montigo Ayam Panggang Berempah (IDR 135,000)

Seafood and Chips (IDR 135,000)

Chicken Cordon Bleu (IDR 135,000)

Coconut Creme Brulee (IDR 35,000)

Sago Malacca (IDR 35,000)

Overall, the food served were deliciously and have a good impression that I would never forget. I was extremely surprised when they served the big bowls of mushroom soup. IDR 85,000 (approximately S$8.50) and they give a big bowl that I could hardly finish it.

I forgot to mention the location of the villa.

Although it's a bit small for you to see, my family and I stayed at villa number 35 which is located in the middle row in the map above. Tadd's is a distance away from the villa. Hence, to save the hassle, there will be a buggy service to pick you up, provided that you tell the guard that you need the service. You can call for the buggy service anytime you want, anywhere you want to go, so it is obviously a plus-point for the resort. Unfortunately for us after the dinner, as we mistaken that the restaurant has called the buggy service to pick us up, it didn't arrive so we have to walk from Tadd's back to the villa. It's a pity though but still we could walk along the silent pathway while walking back to the villa.

The buggy service. Pardon me for snapping a portion of it.

Villa number 35 which we stayed for a night.

The next morning, we went back to Tadd's for our breakfast. Before that, since it was still early (I believe it was 7 am Batam time), we walked along the beach and snapped some pictures of the scenery.

International Breakfast Buffet

After breakfast, we went back to the villa and used the buggy service while heading back for a swim. After staying inside the villa for more than 2 hours, it's time for check-out and back to reality.

In conclusion, staying inside a villa at Montigo Resorts made me feel like I'm enjoying a luxurious life, with a private infinity pool, spacious rooms, complimentary and refillable drink bar, and 5 star service, even after returning back to Singapore, I wish that I could stay for a longer time and wish that I could own a villa one day. It may be a 5 star resort but with the pleasant service throughout the stay, it exceeds the amount of stars that I can give. That resort is a resort that I would never forget when I was in Batam and hopefully could stay there again soon.

For more information about the resort, you can search Montigo Resorts Nongsa to know more about the villas and its facilities. (Neither am I promoting the resort nor paid. I'm stating my experience staying in the resort. Hope you will understand). Also, if you're interested to own one, you can!

Here's how the residence looks like.

Apart from that, upon staying inside the villa, you can also ask for barbecue at the outdoor villa. However, it depends on the availability as we could not get one when we checked in. Maybe next time?

Travel Diary #2: Central Japan Day 6 (Final) (2/2)

Final day in Central Japan continued as we went shopping at Rinku Premium Outlet and Seacle Shopping Mall from morning till evening.

After having an early lunch at McDonald's where I tasted the Pork Cutlet Burger which is not available in Singapore, we continued shopping around Seacle Shopping Mall.

At Seacle, there's a 100-yen shop named Seria. It's similar to Daiso, which is also available in Japan (One of the outlets is at Diver City Tokyo in Odaiba), where they sell various items from household items to stationery to DIY products at 100 yen. Well, not 100 yen because tax has not been included yet. Every item sells for 108 yen after 8% tax is added into it so when you enter the 100-yen shop, remember to add 8% into the price.

Unlike Rinku Premium Outlet, Seacle is a local shopping mall. Seria? Of course you never hear it before elsewhere. Not to mention Sundi (A local supermarket), Celule (Cosmetics), Takiya (Drugstore) and Nishimatsuya (Nursery items store). However, there's one store where most people playing games will know, Namco.

There's an amusement center named Namco located at the 1st floor. Inside there, there's a lot of arcade machines to play with, from claw machines to Taiko to pachinko.

Every game of claw machine costs 100 yen. Since I have a lot of coins, I decided to play for it. There are many prizes available such as plush toys, chocolates and collectible models. I played for a box of chocolates which I wanted to send it as a gift but after playing 5 or 6 times, I gave up.

My younger brother also decided to play but the note was wrongly inserted into a coin machine which game tokens came out instead of 100 yen coins. Sadly, there's no refund for the game tokens hence we used up all the tokens playing different games. As I was using up all the tokens, my younger brother exchanged for 100 yen coins at the right machine and played the claw machine for the collectible model. After 20+ tries, he finally got it! That collectible model he got was an expensive one, over 2,000 yen.

The collectible model which my younger brother won.

We headed for another lunch at a sushi restaurant named Daikisuisan. That sushi restaurant was recommended by a Japanese TV program. How did I know? I knew it after we left the restaurant when I saw a sticker pasted on the restaurant. The show, "Maki's Magic Restaurant", was previously shown on Singapore's cable TV (now defunct) so I knew that the sushi restaurant was featured on TV.

We headed back to Rinku Premium Outlet for the remaining 3 hours to walk around and shopped again. After that, I had crepe for my afternoon snack at a food junction.

At around 6pm JT, our tour members gathered at the meeting point. We left the premium outlet and headed to Kansai International Airport (KIX). 2 buses were there to pick us up so we were separated into 2 groups again. We took the bus which had a lot of luggage behind us.

Around 15 minutes, we arrived at KIX. The check-in counter had not opened yet so we went down to have dinner.

A Pokemon Store at KIX.

Okonomi-yakisoba for my dinner. That dish was also featured on "Maki's Magic Restaurant" like that sushi restaurant.

Other side dishes like fried chicken with potatoes and croquette.

We checked in our luggage at the counter after dinner and went in to the departure gate for security checks. After that, my father and I went to the tax refund counter to return the receipt before heading for immigration.

Again, we went for our last minute shopping at KIX where we bought chocolates and heat tag.

Our gate was number 41 so we had to take a skytrain to reach there.

After we passed through gate 41, it was time to bid farewell.

Overall, the Central Japan experience was great even though there were rushing of time at some destinations where we had time walking and shopping. Hope to visit Japan again, although it would not be very soon, one day we will visit other places in Japan like Kyushu or Hokkaido.

Bye bye, Japan!